While not many new features have been discovered in the first iOS 17.5 beta, puzzle fans will appreciate the new puzzling feature added for Apple News+ subscribers, a new word game called Quartiles. iOS 17.5 will likely be released in May.
In Quartiles, players must combine tiles to form words and collect points. The longer the word, the more points you score. Each puzzle starts off with a grid of 20 tiles, of which up to 4 can be used to create words. A quartile is a four-tile word, and there are five per puzzle. Find all five in each puzzle to earn a 40-point bonus.
The addition of Quartiles was first found by Gadget Hacks, which offers an in-depth look at how exactly the game works.
Quartiles is the third puzzle game included with an Apple News+ subscription, alongside Crossword and Crossword Mini. Starting with the iOS 17.5 beta, all three games integrate with Game Center to display leaderboards.
On an iPhone updated to the iOS 17.5 beta, Quartiles can be found in the Apple News app under the Following tab → Puzzles. The game is also available on the iPad and Mac starting with the iPadOS 17.5 and macOS 14.5 betas.
While Apple News+ is currently available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K., the puzzle games seem only to be available to users in the U.S. and Canada at this time.