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Apple Says iOS 17.5 Coming 'Soon' With These New Features for iPhones

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Apple today announced that iOS 17.5 will be released to the public "soon," following over a month of beta testing. While the software update is relatively minor, it does have a few new features and changes, as outlined in the list below.

iOS-17-All-New-Features-Thumb.jpg

"The new Pride Radiance watch face and iPhone and iPad wallpapers will be available soon with watchOS 10.5, iOS 17.5, and iPadOS 17.5," said Apple, in its press release introducing a new Pride Edition band for the Apple Watch.

Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 betas so far.

Web Distribution

apple-ios-app-store-safari-changes.jpeg

Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU directly on the web, instead of through the App Store or an alternative app marketplace.

"Web Distribution" is limited to larger developers based in the EU. To qualify for this distribution method, Apple says the developer must be a member of the Apple Developer Program for two continuous years or more, and have an app that had more than one million annual installs on iOS in the EU in the prior calendar year.

"Web Distribution" builds upon the alternative app marketplaces that Apple already allows on the iPhone in the EU starting with iOS 17.4. Apple has made these app-related changes to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act.

Quartiles

iOS-17.5-Quartiles-Feature.jpg

iOS 17.5 includes a fun addition for Apple News+ subscribers: a daily word game called Quartiles.

Quartiles tasks you with combining tiles to form words and earn points. Each puzzle starts with a grid of 20 tiles, and words can be formed with one to four tiles. A quartile is a four-tile word, and if you find all five in each puzzle, you earn a 40-point bonus. The website Gadget Hacks shared a walkthrough of the game with more details.

Quartiles is the third puzzle game included with an Apple News+ subscription, alongside Crossword and Crossword Mini. Starting with the iOS 17.5 beta, all three games integrate with Game Center to display leaderboards.

On an iPhone updated to the iOS 17.5 beta, Quartiles can be found in the Apple News app under the Following tab → Puzzles. The game is also available on the iPad and Mac starting with the iPadOS 17.5 and macOS 14.5 betas.

Apple News+ is available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K., but the puzzle games seem to be limited to the U.S. and Canada for now.

Repair Mode

ios-17-5-repair-state.jpg

iOS 17.5 introduces a "Repair State" option that lets an ‌iPhone‌ be sent in for service without deactivating Find My and Activation Lock.

Color-Changing Apple Podcasts Widget

While listening to a podcast on the iOS 17.5 beta, the background color of the Apple Podcasts widget changes to match the podcast's cover art. This feature was first added in the iOS 17.4 beta, but it was removed before that update was released.


Mobile Device Management


As noted by Aaron Perris, MDM solutions can enforce an iOS beta version during Automated Device Enrollment starting with the iOS 17.5 beta.

Code Changes


Battery Health Menu for Future iPads

iPad-Battery-Feature.jpg

The first iPadOS 17.5 beta added several new references to a Battery Health menu on the iPad, but the feature is not actually visible yet. The menu is expected to show an iPad battery's maximum remaining capacity and charge cycle count.

A sample of the code strings added in the iPadOS 17.5 beta:

  • "iPad must be regularly used while not connected to power to show maximum capacity."
  • "This is the number of times iPad has used your battery's capacity."
  • "The iPad battery is performing as expected."
  • "iPad batteries, like all rechargeable batteries, have a limited lifespan and may eventually need to be serviced or replaced."
  • "The original battery was designed to retain X capacity at X cycles under ideal conditions. Actual battery performance depends on a number of variables, including how iPad is used and charged regularly. The one-year warranty includes service for defective batteries in addition to rights provided under local consumer laws."

There is no visible Battery Health menu on any existing iPad models running the iPadOS 17.5 beta, leading us to believe that the menu may be limited to the new iPad Pro and iPad Air models that are expected to launch this month, and likely other new iPads released in the future. Apple has shown battery capacity information on iPhones for many years, but cycle count information is currently limited to the latest iPhone 15 series.

New Apple Pencil

apple-pencil.jpeg

In the iPadOS 17.5 beta, there are potential references to a new fourth-generation Apple Pencil, amid rumors that the accessory will be updated soon.

The beta includes a hidden code reference to a "V4" version of the Apple Pencil:NumberOfApplePencilV1ConnectionsCount
NumberOfApplePencilV2ConnectionsCount
NumberOfAppleP... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Apple Says iOS 17.5 Coming 'Soon' With These New Features for iPhones
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/06/apple-says-ios-17-5-coming-soon/
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turbineseaplane

turbineseaplane

macrumors Pentium
Mar 19, 2008
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I wonder if my iPad Mini 5 will be able to show the Battery Health data -- I'm super curious about it.

My battery life has totally tanked in the last few months

It's really adding to my frustration about no new iPad Mini 7 yet
 
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xpxp2002

macrumors 65816
May 3, 2016
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I wonder if "soon" means the same as "imminent".

I would've speculated that we were looking at RC today and GA next week until the hardware announcement was scheduled. But with the event tomorrow, I'm wondering if we get GA tomorrow after the event or Wednesday.
 
Benz63amg

Benz63amg

macrumors 601
Oct 17, 2010
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xpxp2002 said:
I wonder if "soon" means the same as "imminent".

I would've speculated that we were looking at RC today and GA next week until the hardware announcement was scheduled. But with the event tomorrow, I'm wondering if we get GA tomorrow after the event or Wednesday.
Click to expand...
Highly doubt it. RC isn’t even out yet
 
Realityck

Realityck

macrumors G4
Nov 9, 2015
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Silicon Valley, CA
SactoGuy18 said:
aka. iOS 17.5/iPadOS 17.5 RC is coming as early as today.
Click to expand...
Usually it’s on a Tuesday, since the May 7th announcement video is supposedly only 35 mins long (9to5 story) with the calendar reservation of 7AM to 9AM not interference with the usual seeding time slot slightly after 10 AM PST. Next Monday is when we all expect 17.5 to go public as usual. ;)
 
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BKDad

macrumors regular
May 16, 2011
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jblank said:
I agree. In my opinion, it makes no sense to leave the feature off of older devices as they're the devices that need it most.
Click to expand...
Plus...

You can find out the data already if you know how to decipher some information that's available on your iPad. The great coconutBattery app does just that. Clearly Apple can access the information at the Apple Store, because that's how they determine whether they'll replace your battery for you for $119. (Note that many people have reported that Apple Store analysis often doesn't match coconutBattery for some reason.)

I bet this will be limited because of business reasons. If everybody could get accurate information of whether they could get their battery replaced (har, har) for $119, that might affect future iPad sales. We may love Apple products to a large degree, but at their core they are a profit hungry business. We shouldn't forget that. Not that the idea is wrong, but it isn't necessarily what fans want to believe.
 
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ghostface147

ghostface147

macrumors 601
May 28, 2008
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I haven’t used their podcast app in a couple of years. I stopped using it because each time I’d fast forward one with video, the audio and video would be out of sync. I wonder if they fixed it.
 
Benz63amg

Benz63amg

macrumors 601
Oct 17, 2010
4,198
848
AgentOSX said:
I will settle for my iPhone ringing for every call again.
Click to expand...
Or live voicemail actually working as it should.. I’ve been having an issue saving my custom recorded voicemail greeting for months now.
 
Last edited:
N

Neepman

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2008
842
1,209
Let's keep kicking out bug-filled swill instead taking a breather and fixing whats already here.
 
W

whiteashsaturday

macrumors member
Dec 27, 2020
44
60
coconutBattery.app on macOS connect your iPad via USB -- unless someone else has said it. Pulls all the iPad battery data, including manufacturer, total age, cycle count, and capacity, and health.

I think Apple wanted to originally remove the need to obsess over battery health, by lowering the iPhone clock speed to account for battery loss. Until people got upset with that, and made a lawsuit out of it.

Personally, I had no issue with my iPhone or iPad running slower, but still giving me 18hrs of battery life, for example. No need to play a intensive 3D game with my battery at 18% like all the online-screaming bad battery performance vids.

Now though, my iPhoneSE2020 with 99% battery life after 8 months, is doing fine, I use a hardware timer-switch so the phone only charges for 15 or 30min at a time, never running over or needing Apple's software, and keeps between 80-20% respectively.

Good luck!
 
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