Apple released the first iOS 17.5 beta to public beta testers on April 4, two days after the company released a developer beta and about a month after the release of iOS 17.4. The latest beta version brings a handful of new features — like more ways for people in the European Union to download apps — to the iPhones of some developers and beta testers.
We recommend downloading the beta only on a device other than your primary device. Since this isn’t the final version of iOS 17.5, these features can be buggy and battery life can be short, so it’s best to keep those issues to a secondary device.
If you’re a developer or public beta tester, here are some of the new features you might find in iOS 17.5 beta 1. Keep in mind that the beta isn’t the final version of iOS 17.5, so there could be more features on your iPhone when iOS is released 17.5. There is still no information on when Apple will release iOS 17.5.
Read more: You should really download iOS 17.4.1 right now
Download apps from the site… but only for people in the EU
According to MacRumors, iOS 17.5 beta 1 introduces the ability to download apps directly from the developer’s website instead of through the app store. However, this feature will only work for people in the EU. Apple announced this capability on March 12, alongside other EU-specific features for developers, such as the ability to choose the design of in-app promotions.
This is the latest EU-specific feature coming to iPhone. When Apple released iOS 17.4 in March, a large part of that update allowed people in the EU to download alternative app stores to comply with the Digital Markets Act.
Podcast widget changes color
The podcast widget can change color to match what you’re listening to.
With iOS 17.5 beta 1, your Podcast widget will change color depending on the artwork of whatever podcast you’re currently listening to. So if the podcast you’re listening to has a red image, the widget will turn red.
This aesthetic feature was in some early beta versions of iOS 17.4, but Apple removed it from the public release of that update. In iOS 17.4, Apple also brought transcripts to podcasts, making audio media more accessible to more people.
Book App Counting Tool
iOS 17.5 beta 1 also seems to want to help people reach their reading goals. With the update, the Books app gets a counter in the top right corner of the app’s home page. If you tap this counter, the app will take you to the reading goals menu. This menu shows you how much time you spent reading today. There is also a button that reads Explore the bookstore which opens Bookstore.
At first, Books sets you a daily reading goal of five minutes a day, but you can change this goal to anything between 1 minute or an absurd 1,440 minutes (24 hours) a day — I love to read, but that seems a bit aggressive.
The Books app wants to help you reach your reading goal.
New Quartiles puzzle game for Apple News Plus subscribers
Apple’s iOS 17.5 beta 1 also introduces a new puzzle game in the News app for Apple News Plus subscribers, called Quartiles. At the start of each puzzle, you’re given a grid of 20 tiles that contain word parts, such as “te” and “apr”. Then you have to combine those tiles to form different words. Words can be between one and four tiles long, but each grid can be made into five four-tile words — you get the most points by combining tiles this way.
If you’re an Apple News subscriber, which costs $13 a month, you can find Quartiles by going to News > Follow > Puzzles and by dragging the carousel at the top of the screen. You can also scroll down Riddles page to find the quartiles below the mini crosswords.
Read more: How to play daily crosswords in the news app on your iPhone
These are some of the new features that some developers and beta testers will see in the first beta version of iOS 17.5. That doesn’t mean these are the only features coming with the next iOS update, or that these changes will remain in effect when iOS 17.5 is released to the public. There is currently no information on when Apple will release iOS 17.5.
For more on iOS 17, here’s what you need to know about iOS 17.4.1. You can also check out what’s included in iOS 17.4 and our iOS 17 cheat sheet.
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