A few weeks after the release of iOS 15.4, Apple began beta testing iOS 15.5 (and associated operating systems such as iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS). With iOS 15.4, Apple had released what appeared to be all of the previously announced features and had nothing left to do until iOS 16, so it’s unclear what exactly iOS 15.5 will bring.
The first beta of iOS 15.5 was released on Tuesday, April 5. The public beta usually follows in a day or so.
iOS 15.5 new features
Apply for and send Apple Cash card
In the Wallet app, large “Request” and “Send” buttons are visible when you look at the Apple Cash card.
iTunes Pass = Apple Account Balance
iTunes Pass, a year-old feature for storing and managing your iTunes credit in Wallet, is rebranded as an Apple Account. The card in Wallet works the same as before and shows the unused balance on your Apple account. The name just better reflects that it can be used for App Store and in-app purchases, among other things. However, the name change is not yet present in the first beta of iOS 15.5.
SportsKit and baseball
A new “SportsKit” framework has been in the works for some time now, with references going all the way back to iOS 15.2. While the framework isn’t available to developers yet, it’s being expanded in iOS 15.5 to better support things like baseball scoring for specific innings. Just in time for Friday Night Baseball!
Apple Classic
Apple acquired the classical music service Primephonic in August 2021, saying, “Over the coming months, Apple Music Classical fans will get a dedicated experience with Primephonic’s best features, including enhanced browsing and search capabilities by composer and repertoire, detailed views of classical music metadata, plus new features and benefits.”
Well, that standalone classic experience still hasn’t materialized yet, but several references to “Apple Classical” have been found in the iOS 15.5 code, so maybe a launch will come along with the final release.
How to get the iOS 15.5 beta
To download the iOS 15.5 public beta, you need to go to beta.apple.com on the device you want to run the beta operating system on. Register for the beta and then download the profile.
After you have the profile, go to Settings > General > VPN and Device Manager to activate the profile, which will require you to restart your iPhone or iPad. Once it reboots and the profile is activated, go to General > Software Update to download and install the iOS/iPadOS 15.5 beta.
Registered developers can download the developer beta profile by going to developer.apple.com/download on the device they want to install the beta on.
This post iOS 15.5 Beta: Features, Release, How to Install
was original published at “https://www.macworld.com/article/629737/ios-15-5-beta-features-release-how-to-install.html”