Apple hasn’t released iOS 16.5 yet, but on Monday the tech giant came out with an updated version of the iOS 16.5 release candidate for developers and beta testers. A news release last week pointed to Apple making the iPhone update available to the public as early as today. The beta versions of iOS 16.5 bring more security patches and improvements to the OS, like a new Pride wallpaper section and a sports tab in Apple News, for public beta users as well as developers.
New iOS features can be fun, but we recommend downloading a beta only on a device other than your primary phone, just in case the new software causes problems. Apple also provides beta testers with an app called Feedback, which they can use to notify the company about any issues in the new software. That way, problems can be addressed before general release.
Here are the new features developers and beta testers can try now ahead of the release of iOS 16.5.
Pride Celebration wallpapers
New Pride Celebration wallpapers under the new Pride wallpaper section.
In the iOS 16.5 release candidate, Apple added two new preloaded Pride Celebration wallpapers to a new Pride wallpaper section. The wallpaper section was introduced in iOS 16.5 beta 4.
The Pride wallpaper section is “designed with the colors of the Pride flag to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community,” the section’s description reads.
You can access the new section by tapping Settings > Wallpaper > +Add New Wallpaper.
Apple News gets some sports upgrades
The Apple News app launched in 2015, and the first iOS 16.5 beta brought a Sports tab to the app for the first time. The tab can be found in the toolbar across the bottom of your screen when you open the app. Before, the toolbar displayed tabs for Today, News Plus, Audio, Following and Search. The iOS 16.5 beta 1 got rid of the Search tab to make room for the Sports tab.
The iOS 16.5 release candidate also updated the My Sports scores and schedule cards in Apple News. Now, when you tap the three dots (…) in the bottom-right corner of one of these cards you’ll see an option for Go to Game. Tapping this option will bring up more details about that game.
Here are the release notes for the updated version of the iOS 16.5 release candidate.
This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
• A new Pride Celebration wallpaper for the Lock Screen to honor the LGBTQ+ community and culture.
• Sports tab in Apple News gives easy access to stories, scores, standings and more, for the teams and leagues you follow.
• My Sports score and schedule cards in Apple News take you directly to game pages where you can find additional details about specific games.
• Fixes an issue where Spotlight may become unresponsive.
• Addresses an issue where Podcasts in CarPlay may not load content.
• Fixes an issue where Screen Time settings may reset or not sync across all devices.
Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:
There’s no guarantee these beta features will be released with iOS 16.5, or that these will be the only new features to come out with the update.
For more, check out what to know about iOS 16.4.1 (a) and Rapid Security Responses and what you may have missed with iOS 16.4. And there’s how to become an Apple beta tester so you can try new iOS features before other folks.
Watch this: iOS 16: Powerful Features You May Have Missed
