Apple releases iOS 14 public beta for users to test ahead of the official fall launch – but it may be riddled with bugs
- Apple unveiled its iOS 14 on June 22 at the Worldwide Developers Conference
- Thursday the firm released first public beta of its new iOS 14 for users to test
- This allows users to report bugs in the software that Apple can fix
- The new iOS 14 is set to officially launch in the fall, most likely September
Apple released the first public beta of its new iOS 14 Thursday, allowing users to take a look at the new features ahead of the fall roll out.
This version is far from polished, but allows users to poke around for bugs that may have gone unnoticed by the firm ahead of the official September launch.
Downloading the new operating system gives you the first look at a redesigned home screen, widget gallery and App clips, along with a new Siri interface.
However, those who regret taking the chance, you will need to wipe and restore your smartphone – but you can recover everything stored on the device.
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Apple released the first public beta of its new iOS 14 Thursday, allowing users to take a look at the new features ahead of the fall roll out. This version is far from polished, but allows users to poke around for bugs that may have gone unnoticed by the firm ahead of the official September launch
Apple unveiled its iOS 14 on June 22 during its first digital Worldwide Developers Conference.
The move to a digitally stage was due to the coronavirus pandemic that has forced hundreds of events to either cancel or host online.
The tech giant typically launches the new operating system in September, but also provides a public beta version a few months prior.
This allows the average user try it out, search for bugs and report them to Apple, which hopefully fixes before it rolls out to the masses.
Downloading the new operating system gives you the first look at a redesigned home screen, widget gallery and app library (pictured), along with a new Siri interface
Since it may be riddled with numerous bugs, users have regretted taking the chance, but not all is lost – you can restore your device to the previous version.
Users will have to wipe the iPhone or iPad and connected to iTunes on a computer.
Select your iPhone in the left side bar and ‘Restore iPhone’ should appear.
However, a backup of your device must be completed before wiping it in order to recovery pictures, videos, text messages, phone numbers and anything else you have stored.
For those who push through the bugs, you will experience a redesigned home screen with an app library give users an easier way of accessing their apps without having to scroll through endless pages.
However, those who regret taking the chance, you will need to wipe and restore your smartphone. Pictured is an example of Apple’s new widget layout on its redesigned home screen. It lets users view features like the weather app without having to open them
The feature also automatically organizes apps based by grouping like apps together – for instance it pulls up Apple Arcade games into one clickable button. It also allows users to hide apps on their ‘main’ home screen to reduce clutter.
Widgets will appear on the home screen and Apple is introducing a system-wide picture-in-picture feature to iOS videos.
Similarly to macOS, the feature will superimpose videos will over other apps so that users can continue watching while texting or doing other tasks.
Apple also redesigned its voice assistant, Siri, to make it less invasive when it’s activated.
Instead of filling the screen with the Siri interface, a new design will overlay a small bubble at the bottom of the screen that lets you know Siri is working.
Siri will also be able to send voice messages for the first time. Users can activate Siri and then dictate the message in the same