Apple Seeds Second Betas of iOS and iPadOS 13.6 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

[MacRumors]

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.6 updates to developers, one week after seeding the first betas and a couple weeks after releasing iOS/iPadOS 13.5 with Exposure Notification API, Face ID updates, Group FaceTime changes, and more.

iOS and iPadOS 13.6 can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or over the air once the proper developer profile has been installed. Note that Apple has changed the version number of this beta to 13.6. When it was first released last week, it was iOS 13.5.5.

Though the feature is not live yet, iOS and iPadOS 13.6 include signs of a new Apple News+ Audio feature, which will see Apple offering some news stories in an audio capacity.

Apple has been working with publishers to garner permission to create audio versions of some stories. Apple also plans to offer a recap of the day's top stories for subscribers to listen to.

Code in iPadOS 13.6 also suggests Apple is working on keyboard shortcuts that will allow users who have a Magic Keyboard or other attached keyboard to adjust the brightness level of the keys, but it's not clear if this will be a feature included in the update.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Second Betas of iOS and iPadOS 13.6 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

 

[Orizaba]

I'm surprised they're adding new features this late in the iOS cycle...

 

[JetBlack7]

Wait, wasn't 13.5.5 in beta 1 still? How is this in beta 2 already?

 

[Mutepointer]

Wait, wasn't 13.5.5 in beta 1 still? How is this in beta 2 already?

13.6 ate 13.5.5.

 

[Expos of 1969]

So the first listed reason of yet another update is for audio versions of some of the "highly anticipated" Apple News+ stories which very few care about and the second may be to add features to the over priced and under featured Magic Keyboard which should have been there from launch. What a proud and industry leading day for Apple.

 

[simbo123]

Presumably it’s changed to a dot release because of a new Exposure Notification API, that’s what happened last time

 

[dannyyankou]

This tells me they're going to release more .5.x updates than they expected.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Look, I don’t blame Apple for this, but here is an interesting comparison:
iOS 5
5.0: October 12, 2011
5.0.1: November 10, 2011
5.1: March 7: 2012
5.1.1: May 7, 2012.
Now for 13:
13.0: September 19, 2019
13.1: September 24, 2019
13.1.1:September 27, 2019
13.1.2:September 30, 2019
13.1.3:October 15, 2019
13.2:October 28, 2019
13.2.1: October 30 , 2019
13.2.2: November 7, 2019
13.2.3: November 18, 2019
13.3ecember 10, 2019
13.3.1: January 28, 2020
13.4:March 24, 2020
13.4.1: April 7, 2020
13.5: May 20, 2020
13.5.1: June 1: 2020
And now 13.6

 

[now i see it]

would they be so brash as to use a machine and voice (Siri) to read ANews?
Or ya think they'll hire some human readers to "podcast it"?

 

[Dwalls90]

I'm surprised they're adding new features this late in the iOS cycle...

I'm guessing it's because this 13.6 update may help with News+ adoption, as this service has been more or less a flop since launch. Apple is probably looking to holistically beef up their services to keep the bottom line in a good position given the recession, and didn't want to wait for iOS 14 in September to push this out.

 

[WannaGoMac]

Ooh, Mail delivery bug fixed I am sure by now! lol

 

[Stuipdboy1000]

I'm surprised they're adding new features this late in the iOS cycle...

I think they’ll be trying to get this out for WWDC or shortly afterwards. It’s not often a beta 2 follows only a week after the first so I read this as it being on an accelerated release schedule. With AirTags and potentially new AirPod over-ear headphones being released at WWDC I’d imagine this is the release that will support them.

 

[chucker23n1]

I'm surprised they're adding new features this late in the iOS cycle...

I like it. Use WWDC to lay out the annual roadmap (fall through summer), but don't ship everything in one go.

I suppose there will be overlap this time, though: iOS 14 beta 1 will likely drop later this month, while iOS 13.6 final might ship the same day or even after.
[automerge]1591724456[/automerge]

Look, I don’t blame Apple for this, but here is an interesting comparison:
iOS 5
5.0: October 12, 2011
5.0.1: November 10, 2011
5.1: March 7: 2012
5.1.1: May 7, 2012.
Now for 13:
13.0: September 19, 2019
13.1: September 24, 2019
13.1.1:September 27, 2019
13.1.2:September 30, 2019
13.1.3:October 15, 2019
13.2:October 28, 2019
13.2.1: October 30 , 2019
13.2.2: November 7, 2019
13.2.3: November 18, 2019
13.3ecember 10, 2019
13.3.1: January 28, 2020
13.4:March 24, 2020
13.4.1: April 7, 2020
13.5: May 20, 2020
13.5.1: June 1: 2020
And now 13.6

I really don't think the amount of releases is an indicator of quality. Windows used to be more Service Pack-focused, where bugfixes were only released about once a year (if that). It didn't mean that Windows was more stable, just that it was on a different schedule.

 

[jclardy]

While I think it is a bit crazy how many updates iOS 13 has gotten, but at the same time I prefer this versus keeping bugs/features held back till the next year’s OS release. Things like cursor support in 13.4 was a nice mid-cycle surprise.

 

[nwcs]

I wonder if this will be the version that goes into long term support?

 

[Expos of 1969]

Look, I don’t blame Apple for this, but here is an interesting comparison:
iOS 5
5.0: October 12, 2011
5.0.1: November 10, 2011
5.1: March 7: 2012
5.1.1: May 7, 2012.
Now for 13:
13.0: September 19, 2019
13.1: September 24, 2019
13.1.1:September 27, 2019
13.1.2:September 30, 2019
13.1.3:October 15, 2019
13.2:October 28, 2019
13.2.1: October 30 , 2019
13.2.2: November 7, 2019
13.2.3: November 18, 2019
13.3ecember 10, 2019
13.3.1: January 28, 2020
13.4:March 24, 2020
13.4.1: April 7, 2020
13.5: May 20, 2020
13.5.1: June 1: 2020
And now 13.6

Yea, that's only one update every 2.7 weeks 🙄

 

[C DM]

I'm surprised they're adding new features this late in the iOS cycle...

Presumably it’s changed to a dot release because of a new Exposure Notification API, that’s what happened last time

The new exposure notification API was part of the 13.5 release, but it's possible that something along those lines (another new API or something of that nature) is being added in 13.6.

 

[JGIGS]

Look, I don’t blame Apple for this, but here is an interesting comparison:
iOS 5
5.0: October 12, 2011
5.0.1: November 10, 2011
5.1: March 7: 2012
5.1.1: May 7, 2012.
Now for 13:
13.0: September 19, 2019
13.1: September 24, 2019
13.1.1:September 27, 2019
13.1.2:September 30, 2019
13.1.3:October 15, 2019
13.2:October 28, 2019
13.2.1: October 30 , 2019
13.2.2: November 7, 2019
13.2.3: November 18, 2019
13.3ecember 10, 2019
13.3.1: January 28, 2020
13.4:March 24, 2020
13.4.1: April 7, 2020
13.5: May 20, 2020
13.5.1: June 1: 2020
And now 13.6

I mean iOS 13 is a lot more complex than what iOS 5 was so it's natural to expect more updates/fixes. That being said that is a whole lot of updates.

 

[chucker23n1]

I wonder if this will be the version that goes into long term support?

iOS has never had long-term support releases.

If iOS 14 cuts off some device support, then there might be a 13.6.1 some day with a critical security patch for the devices stuck on 13, but beyond that, you can't elect to stay on 13.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I mean iOS 13 is a lot more complex than what iOS 5 was so it's natural to expect more updates/fixes. That being said that is a whole lot of updates.

Yeah. To be fair, iOS 4 got a crap ton of updates.
4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.1, 4.2.1, 4.3, 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.3.3, 4.3.4, 4.3.5
And then it got other updates for the CDMA iPhone: 4.2.5, 4.2.6, 4.2.7, 4.2.8, 4.2.9, 4.2.10
Also, iOS 5 had the longest development time of any since 1.0. IOS 4 was announced on April 8, went into beta, and was released to the public on June 21, 2010. Meanwhile, iOS 5 wasn’t announced till June 6, then it went into beta, and then it wasn’t released until October 12. So not only did it get an extra two months of development time, and also have five months of betas instead of the normal three that current versions get.

 

[Braderunner]

Hope this fixes the issue I’m having with web pages randomly jumping to a bookmarked page from my favorites.

 

[JetBlack7]

13.6 ate 13.5.5.

Yeah. I read that they changed 13.5.5 to 13.6. 2020 is being such a strange year in terms of updates.

 

[C DM]

Yeah. I read that they changed 13.5.5 to 13.6. 2020 is being such a strange year in terms of updates.

Seems like they added something beyond bug fixes to what they originally expected to be a 13.5.x bug fix update and needed to bump the version to make it a 13.x update.

 

[Neepman]

Look, I don’t blame Apple for this, but here is an interesting comparison:
iOS 5
5.0: October 12, 2011
5.0.1: November 10, 2011
5.1: March 7: 2012
5.1.1: May 7, 2012.
Now for 13:
13.0: September 19, 2019
13.1: September 24, 2019
13.1.1:September 27, 2019
13.1.2:September 30, 2019
13.1.3:October 15, 2019
13.2:October 28, 2019
13.2.1: October 30 , 2019
13.2.2: November 7, 2019
13.2.3: November 18, 2019
13.3ecember 10, 2019
13.3.1: January 28, 2020
13.4:March 24, 2020
13.4.1: April 7, 2020
13.5: May 20, 2020
13.5.1: June 1: 2020
And now 13.6

Just More and more ways to kill blocks of your Solid state memory by constantly slamming in big lumps of files over and over again. Brilliant!

 

[chucker23n1]

Just More and more ways to kill blocks of your Solid state memory by constantly slamming in big lumps of files over and over again. Brilliant!

I'm not aware of a single case where a critical amount of blocks died on an iPhone. Given how much better flash storage has become, and how relatively short the lifespan is (five years is probably stretching it), I don't think that's a big concern.