Apple has reached its eighth round of betas, with more builds of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8 now available for testing.
The latest builds can be downloaded by developers in the beta-testing scheme via the Apple Developer Center, or as an over-the-air update for hardware already using earlier beta builds. A public beta version of the releases is expected to start arriving soon, and will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program website.
As Apple is anticipated to release the final public versions to accompany its fall product releases, there is a strong possibility there will be at least one more round of betas to go.
In iOS 15, Apple has added Focus modes, along with Live Text OCR, Wallet gains digital ID support, FaceTime and Messages are enhanced, and the Weather and Maps apps are given some improvements. In the fourth beta, it was discovered the Camera app could remove unwanted lens flares from images.
In iPadOS 15, Apple updated multitasking to make it more usable, along with adding home screen widget support, system-wide Quick Note, and the Translate app. Swift Playgrounds also enables app development on the iPad, complete with submissions of apps to the App Store.
For watchOS 8, Apple introduces Tai Chi and Pilates workouts in the Fitness app, respiratory rates for the Sleep app, new mosaic layouts and memories in Photos, and cursor control with the Digital Crown and GIF search to Messages.
AppleInsider, and Apple itself, strongly recommend users don’t install the betas on primary devices or hardware they deem as “mission-critical” at all, as there is the highly remote possibility of data loss or other issues. Testers should instead install betas onto secondary or non-essential devices as a safer alternative, and to always make sure there are sufficient backups of important data before updating.