Yoodley is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Apple has released the second public beta of iOS 17 alongside the re-release version of the iOS 17 Developer Beta 4. The two releases share the same build number (21A5291j), so testers will find the same details in both.
In terms of improvements, there are no huge additions to the new releases, even a modem update. Nonetheless, these new releases will still present all the small detail changes in the OS we’ve seen in iOS 17 Beta 4. The list includes:
- The Weather app gets a bunch of detail changes, including the wording and details in the Averages section. Apple also added information about some weather-related phrases in the app when you tap and scroll down the Averages page.
- The new AirDrop gesture can now be disabled through a new control in Settings > General > AirDrop. On the page, there is a new “Bringing Device Together” section with a toggle you can use to activate or deactivate the feature. When deactivated, holding the top of your iPhone close to another unit won’t trigger the NameDrop or sharing feature of iOS 17.
- StandBy also gets a new control, allowing you to hide the preview of the notifications and only view them when you tap. You can find this new control in Settings > StandBy > Show Preview on Tap Only.
- Apple has implemented changes in different icons across the OS. This includes the icon of Home Screen & App Library in Settings, the Apple TV remote icon in Control Center, and the Auto-Brightness in the Insights and Suggestions section of the Battery page.
- The icon changes also include the icons within the + option in Messages. In iOS 17, Apple has resorted to more rounded looks, so each icon in the + menu in Messages is now contained in a circle. Also, Apple reverted to the old Photos logo for Photos instead of showing your last photo when you tapped on the + menu.
- When you go to Safari > Bookmark > Clear, the size of the page that will appear will no longer be in full screen.
- You will find a new option in Settings > Accessibility >Display & Text Size. According to the description, the new “Prefer Horizontal Text” option allows you to “prefer horizontal text in languages that support vertical text.”
- My Photo Stream feature is no longer available in the system.
- Apple enhanced the AirPlay picker animation.
- The thinnest text option for the Lock Screen is now a bit thicker, and the font colors also seem to be changed. The button of the Apple TV remote also now has thicker lines.
- Some of the design elements in the Health app are changed: the size of the icon in the State of Mind that reads “No Entry” is now smaller, the color of the Next button when you tap Log an Emotion or Mood is now lighter, and the colors in the slider when you pick moods are also changed to lighter hues. The texts in the Health app are also now thicker and more legible. The Mental Health Questionaire section also has an updated icon.
- There is now an option for Contacts in Settings > Privacy & Security > Sensitive Content Warning.
- Going to the New Shared Group section within the Passwords page in Settings will auto-fill the Group Name for you, which reads “Family Passwords.”
The releases reportedly include performance improvements as well, as testers shared. For instance, some developers and public testers claim to experience a faster AirDrop sharing process and a snappier Safari and Calculator. Some testers also claim they are no longer experiencing the bug involving the keyboard in iOS.
On the other hand, there are still many known issues listed in the Release Notes of the beta releases, indicating that Apple still has a lot of things to work on. Some visible problems in earlier releases are also still present in the iOS 17 Public Beta 2 and Developer Beta 4 Re-release, especially the bug in the Notification Center.
Have you spotted anything new in the iOS 17 Public Beta 2 and Developer Beta 4 Re-release Version that we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comment section!
