Apple releases fourth iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 public beta

Apple has just released a bunch of updates over the past few days. Today, we get the fourth public beta of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 as well as the fifth developer beta of watchOS 6 and the fourth beta of tvOS 13. These come after the developer beta five of iOS 13 was released yesterday. For the public beta of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, you can get the update via the Settings app on your device. It’s rolling out now and should come to most users running the public beta soon.

The notable changes that came with the fifth developer beta of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 include being able to adjust the Home screen icon density. This means you can choose between having a 4 x 5 grid of apps or a 6 x 5 grid of apps. Other changes in beta 5 include new wallpapers in the Home app and a redesigned share sheet that now groups actions by apps.

Source: 9to5Mac

watchOS 6 uncouples Apple’s wearable with the iPhone

A common theme that seems to be running at WWDC 2019 is Apple unbundling a lot of its devices’ reliance on each other. With the iPad getting its own operating system of sorts, watchOS 6 is introducing some new features that will make the Apple Watch a bit more independent from the iPhone. The apps on the wearable can now be run locally without having a companion app installed on a paired iPhone. There are new apps being introduced including audiobooks, voice memos, and a calculator. New APIs will let apps stream audio directly to the watch. watchOS 6 will also make it possible to read data for longer periods than before. This new version of watchOS will also bring an actual App Store where you can browse, pay, and download apps right on the watch.

On a cosmetic level, there are new watchfaces to choose from. There are also new health features you might find useful. watchOS 6 can track your hearing health in noisy environments and track a woman’s cycle right from the watch. iPhone users will also get this feature within the Health app (without needing the Apple Watch). This version of watchOS is coming to developers this week with a public launch set this fall. All Apple Watch models will get the new OS update, but not all features will make it to all versions.

Source: The Verge