Apple today seeded the first public beta of its upcoming iOS 17.1 and iPadOS 17.1 updates for testing. The new public betas come one day after the updates’ developer betas.
Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program can download the iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates by opening the Settings app, going to “General,” tapping on the “Software Update” section, and turning on the iOS 17 Public Beta option.
According to MacRumors, the 17.1 update brings several new features that didn’t make it into the initial iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 releases.
New features include:
- Apple Music Favorites: You can favorite songs, albums, playlists, and artists in the iOS 17.1 Music app.
- AirDrop: AirDrop transfers can now be completed over a cellular connection or via Wi-Fi if you walk out of the range of the person you’re sharing with.
- NameDrop on Apple Watch: When used with watchOS 10.1, an Apple Watch and an iPhone can now be used to exchange contact information via the NameDrop feature.
- Ringtones and Text Tones: While the 20+ new ringtones and text tones that were added in iOS 17 have disappeared in the first beta of iOS 17.1, but will likely be re-added in a later update. Custom tones for Mail and Messages have also been re-added.
- UK Bank Balances in the Wallet App: UK users can now add their UK bank accounts to the Wallet app in iOS 17.1
- Books app: The “Reading Now” section in the Apple Books app has been renamed to “Read Now.”
- Dynamic Island Flashlight Indicator: When the flashlight is activated on an iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, or iPhone 15 Plus, a flashlight icon in the Dynamic Island appears to let you know that it is on.
- Nintendo Switch N64 Controller Support
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.