The iOS 13 is giving the iPhone new features, and while it won’t come to consumer until later in 2019, the beta is here now.
The iOS 13 beta launched last week, and we got our first look at the features coming to your iPhone at Apple’s WWDC 2019 keynote. It’s changing things for the better.
iOS 13 beta is not for everyone – yet. Apple advises that this developer beta should be used by its paid developer community. The iOS 13 public beta arrives in July.
In the meantime, we’ll explain (and show) what it’s all about, including Dark Mode, a long-awaited UI tweak allowing you invert those bright white-screen backgrounds.
We also have details surrounding the new QuickPath swipe keyboard and iPadOS, essentially a special iPad version of iOS 13, and explain how you can get iOS 13 beta today if you’re an adventurous developer.
There are so many iOS 13 features we’ve pored over in the last week, but we’ll start with the iOS 13 release date schedule and all-important compatibility list first.
We’ve mapped out an iOS 13 beta timeline, from beta 1 to the final version of the software, and it all begins with a first look at the update in the form of the developer beta, which is out there now. We had June 3 date pinned down as the release date months ago, long before we got our WWDC invite.
1. iOS 13 developer beta: The iOS 13 beta 1 is available right now, but it’s restricted to paid Apple developers. You should probably wait for the public beta, which is always more stable, or upgrade to the beta on a non-primary device. Plus, installing this iOS 13 beta requires Xcode or macOS 10.15 to be installed first. It’s a bit more complicated this year than the over-the-air installation process we had before.
2. iOS 13 public beta: This is Apple’s way of testing features on a larger scale, and it will roll out in July – last year the iOS public beta release date was June 25, so it’s a bit later in 2019. It’ll be worth the wait, though – it’s typically a more refined version of the iOS developer beta, although it can still be rough, and never includes all of the features implemented in the final version of the software.
3. iOS 13 golden master: This will be the final version of the iOS 13 software, released one week before the final release, meant for developers and public beta testers. At this point it’s very stable, and gives app makers seven days to adapt to the final software.
4. The official iOS 13 release date: We’ll get the new iOS 13 software in its final, stable form about one week after the next iPhone launch event, at which we expect to see what we’re calling (for now) the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Max and iPhone 11 XR. The date? Probably mid-September (last year it was September 17).
iOS 13 compatibility requires an iPhone or iPad from the last four years (depending on the device category). That means phones like the iPhone 6 won’t be getting iOS 13 – if you’ve got one of those devices you’ll be stuck with iOS 12 forever.
You’ll need an iPhone 6S or later, the iPad Air 2 or later, and the new iPad mini 4 or later, or the iPod touch 7th generation. No surprise, the new iPod Touch 7th gen is the only devices of its class that gets iOS 13 support.
The iPhone SE fits into an odd category, as it has iPhone 6 era specs, but came out after the iPhone 6S. Don’t worry, everyone’s favorite little iPhone will get iOS 13.
Dark Mode in iOS 13 is going to be system-wide, meaning it’ll change the hues from bright white and light grey to black and dark gray on all supported apps.
That’s going to be a nice feature when you’re using your iPhone at night and want to avoid bright white hues. It may also save battery life on the OLED-equipped iPhones, from the iPhone X onward. Apple didn’t talk about this at all, but we know that OLED displays essentially ‘turn off’ pixels when rendering blacks.
Turning on iOS 13 Dark Mode can be done in Control Center, according to Apple, or you can set it automatically to turn on at night. Night Shift finally gets a companion, and a lot of people couldn’t be happier.
The theory that Apple is taking on the Tile tracker is backed up in the iOS 13 beta, according to a new leak regarding what’s been dubbed the ‘Apple Tag’.
While the redesigned Find My app is supposed to locate your Apple devices and also your iPhone-carry friends, the Apple Tag is allegedly designed for everything else. Think: keys, bag, water bottle, or anything else a Bluetooth tracker could attach to.
The Apple Tag wasn’t a part of the iOS 13 reveal during WWDC 2019, but it could be an announced alongside the iPhone 11 in September. After all, it is mobile hardware.
Some of the biggest changes we expected for iOS 13 on the iPad are actually coming in an update called iPadOS. Apple is signaling that the iPad needs its own platform.
That means big improvements to your iPad workflow, starting with the home screen redesign. Pinned Widgets, as we predicted in our iOS 13 rumors roundup, lets you add widgets from the Today View screen (that left-mode screen on your iPhone and iPad). So far, it’s iPad-exclusive, and not coming to iOS13 for the iPhone.
Slide Over lets you have multiple apps open and cycle through them like rolodex.
