With iOS 14.5 just days away, Apple releases iOS 14.6 Developer Beta 1

Even though Apple won't be releasing iOS 14.5 until this coming Monday, April 26th, the company decided to get ahead of the curve today by dropping iOS 14.6 Developer Beta 1. Also released today was iPadOS 14.6 Developer Beta 1 and watchOS 7.5 Developer Beta 1.

After the cornucopia of new features that is coming in iOS 14.5, the follow-up is bound to feel barren in comparison. While we don't know exactly what new features are coming to iOS 14.6, Apple does say that "You can now directly update your iOS or iPadOS device to the latest Release Candidate (RC) without removing the beta profile. After updating to the Release Candidate, you can choose to update to the next available beta or uninstall the profile to remove your device from the beta program."

In other words, if you have the iOS 14.5 RC build installed, you can decide to stay in the beta program and receive new beta updates, or uninstall the profile to exit the beta program. For example, if you have iOS 14.5 RC installed and the beta profile enabled, when the final version of iOS 14.5 is on your phone, the iOS 14.6 developer beta will be found in the settings as an alternate update. Or, you can exit the beta program and get ready to install iOS 14.6 when it is ready..

For those who aren't sure what the excitement is over iOS 14.5, that update will allow users with an unlocked Apple Watch on their wrist and a face mask over their, well, face, to unlock their handset without having to scramble to punch in the passcode. It also will launch the App Tracking Transparency feature so that users who don't want to receive online ads can automatically opt-out from being tracked. Those who don't mind being tracked can opt-in to continue receiving ads.

The upcoming update, expected to arrive this this coming Monday April 26th, also brings with it nearly 200 more emoji, and support for the PlayStation 5 controller and the Xbox Series X/S controllers. Once iOS 14.5 is installed on the iPhone, it will ask the user to select a default voice for Siri from among four choices:

• Voice 1-a soft-spoken male-sounding voice
• Voice 2- an energetic, confident female-sounding voice
• Voice 3 is similar to Voice 2 but sounds male,
• and finally, Voice 4, which sounds like the default Siri voice that you know and love.