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Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5 updates to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test out the software head of its official launch. The public betas come two days after Apple provided the betas to developers.

iOS-16.5-Feature.jpg

Those who have signed up their accounts for Apple's free beta testing program can enable the beta by opening up the Settings app, going to General, selecting Software Update, tapping on Beta Updates, and selecting the iOS 16 Public Beta option.

iOS 16.5 appears to be a relatively minor update, and few changes were found in the first developer beta. There is a new Sports tab located in the Apple News app, and Siri can now be asked to start a screen recording.

Development on iOS 16 is slowing down as Apple prepares for the upcoming June debut of iOS 17, the next-generation version of iOS.

Apple has also seeded a new public beta of watchOS 9.5 to public beta testers.

Article Link: Apple Releases First Public Betas of iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5
 
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I didn’t encounter anything different with iOS 16.5/ iPadOS 16.5 installs compared to 16.4 RC seed or public release. Updated two iPhone 14 pro and iPad mini 6 Just fine.
  • iOS 16.5 beta (20F5028e) - March 28, 2023
  • iPadOS 16.5 beta (20F5028e) - March 28, 2023
  • macOS 13.4 beta (22F5027f) - March 28, 2023
  • watchOS 9.5 beta (20T5527c) - March 28, 2023
  • tvOS 16.5 beta (20L5527d) - March 28, 2023
 

Home

New Features

  • A Shared Admin in a Home is now able to pair/add Matter Accessories. (106449382)

Known Issues

  • When a manual software update is attempted on a Matter accessory with an available update, Home might not indicate that the update has been requested and continue to indicate an update is available. (104902918)
    Workaround: Check the Software Update pane in Home Settings at a later time, as the update might be taking place in the background.
  • Shared Admin pairing will fail if Home hubs are running pre-tvOS 16.5 beta software. (105204882)
    Workaround: Update tvOS devices to tvOS 16.5 beta.
  • Software updates for Matter accessories might be offered again even though the update already completed successfully. (106768113)
    Workaround: Restart your HomePod and Apple TV devices.
  • Pairing will fail if Shared Admin tries to perform the first pairing of a Matter accessory in a Home. (107073942)
    Workaround: Let the Home owner perform the first Matter accessory pairing and subsequent pairings from Shared Admin will work.
 
Siri lets you start a screen recording now.
She still can’t so much as adjust headphone volume without an internet connection, and half the time getting her to reply to a text message requires unlocking the bloody phone first which defeats the entire point, but ooooo now she can save you a pull down gesture and button push.
Progress!
 
Siri lets you start a screen recording now.
She still can’t so much as adjust headphone volume without an internet connection, and half the time getting her to reply to a text message requires unlocking the bloody phone first which defeats the entire point, but ooooo now she can save you a pull down gesture and button push.
Progress!

I am hoping that they till iOS 17 retires Siri altogether and puts out the next generation of voice assistant called “Alpha” that works using 4gpt
 
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I hope it fixes the issues with Apple Music freezing and (eventually) closing.
 
Siri lets you start a screen recording now.
She still can’t so much as adjust headphone volume without an internet connection, and half the time getting her to reply to a text message requires unlocking the bloody phone first which defeats the entire point, but ooooo now she can save you a pull down gesture and button push.
Progress!
Exactly. Siri often even doesn’t get triggered on my phone until I shout HEY SIRI for third time.
Many of my attempts aren’t understood and often she tells me “I can’t do that on this device” or responds audible on the wrong device (e.g suddenly on my HomePod instead of phone).
It’s extremely hard to discover what she is capable of and what not, and it’s quickly getting ridiculously outdated now that I’m interacting with OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Whisper.
A while back my internet was down but my WiFi was working just fine. Even the most simple commands required an internet connection.
Siri feels like a completely failed technology for years that has only has been patched and had no clear vision or direction since its inception.
 
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I turned off the public beta but it is still asking if I want to download the update. How do I get rid of the prompt.
If you disable public beta to off, I would think you need to power off the device. Then turn it on again after it being off for so many seconds. Then it shouldn’t prompt the update.
 
Maybe they will fix the geofencing feature in Focus, that they broke with 16.4. I was at a car club meeting on Saturday, at a location that's geofenced in a Focus I created months ago, and my phone rang out loud. I thought, "WTH? Isn't the Focus on?" And sure enough, it wasn't. So, I turned it on manually. Later, it didn't turn off when I left the geofenced location.

I also found this to be the case yesterday, when I was at another place that's in a different geofenced Focus. It didn't turn on, either.
 
Ok like I haven't noticed one single difference in iOS 16.5. Nothing is different literally. Someone please help me because I need to come up with something to say for my job about iOS 16.5 and like literally there's nothing for me to say yet.IMG_0485.png
 
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