Apple today seeded the second betas of its new iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 updates to developers and public beta testers. the new seeds come one month after the release of the first iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 betas.
Beta builds are available to developers through the Apple Developer Center or over the air on the devices with the proper configuration installed.
Public beta builds of the new operating systems can be downloaded via the Apple Beta Software Program website by users signed up to take part in the testing program. If you’re interested in trying out the betas of the upcoming operating systems you can sign up for the program by clicking the same link.
When paired with the HomePod 14.4 beta, iOS 14.4 adds new HomePod mini functionality that takes advantage of the mini’s U1 chip.
When an iPhone gets near the HomePod mini, it begins a soft haptic touch rhythm that begins speeding up as the iPhone gets closer until finally, the song transfer interface opens to allow a user to transfer a song between the iPhone and the HomePod mini.
At this time, we don’t know exactly what else is included in the iOS 14.4 update, but we will let you know in this space if we hear anything. It likely includes bug fixes and performance improvements that weren’t included in the iOS 14.3 release.
In the Workout section of the Apple Watch app on the iPhone there’s a new “Time to Walk” feature that includes a toggle to “Add Newest Workouts to Watch.”
iOS 14.4 also includes a new setting to specify a device type for third-party Bluetooth-connected audio devices so that Headphone Audio Level measurements can be taken correctly. Headphone audio levels are tracked and alerts are sent if music is playing at a level that has the potential to damage hearing health over time.
As usual, MacTrast and Apple both warn users to not install any betas on their daily driver iPhone or iPad, instead only install betas on a device set aside for testing purposes.
