iOS 17.5 beta 2 is here: 5 new features on your iPhone
iOS 17.5 beta 2 has rolled out to users registered to the Apple Developer Program, allowing them to test a gaggle of new features.
iOS 17.5, reportedly weeks away from an official release, is set to be the fifth significant update since Apple officially dropped iOS 17 in September (alongside the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models). Curious about the new perks you can explore with iOS 17.5 beta 2? Here are the top five features in the new version.
iOS 17.5 beta 2: 5 new features
The new features include an update that complies with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), allowing users in the European Union to download and install apps from certain third-party websites, but there are other perks that may interest the wider public.
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New Apple News+ game
Reserved for users with an Apple News+ subscription, iOS 17.5 beta 2 now has a new game called "Quartiles." The game requires users to combine tiles to create words.
For example, according to a screenshot from MacRumors, you can combine the following four tiles — "art," "ist," "ic," and "ally" — to make the word "artistically."
Expanded sideloading
iPhone users within the EU are now capable of downloading apps from directly from Apple app developers' websites sans using the Apple App Store (or a third-party app marketplace). iOS 17.4 introduced sideloading to EU users, but with iOS 17.5 beta 2, there's now a new way to download apps. The functionality is not yet available for iPad users.
'Palestinian flag' emoji fix
As we reported last week, Apple said it was releasing a fix for a bug that caused the Palestinian flag to appear when some users typed the word "Jersualem."
With iOS 17.5 beta 2, it looks like the Cupertino-based tech giant followed through with its promise. No emojis populate when the word is typed in the Messages app.
New 'Tip' for Notes app
Under iOS 17.5 beta 2, a new "Tip" banner appears on the bottom of the Notes app, allowing users to get a better understanding on how to organize their notes by tags, checklists, and more.
New 'Reading Goals' indicator in Apple Books
In the Apple Books app, iOS 17.5 beta 2 added a tiny new symbol on the upper-right corner. Once you tap it, it will bring you to your Reading Goals page.
The official iOS 17.5 wide public rollout is expected to be some time in early May, perhaps alongside the oft-rumored iPad Air and iPad Pro launch.
Kimberly Gedeon, at Mashable since 2023, is a tech explorer who enjoys doing deep dives into the most popular gadgets, from the latest iPhones to the most immersive VR headsets. She's drawn to strange, avant-garde, bizarre tech, whether it's a 3D laptop, a gaming rig that can transform into a briefcase, or smart glasses that can capture video. Her journalism career kicked off about a decade ago at MadameNoire where she covered tech and business before landing as a tech editor at Laptop Mag in 2020.
