iOS 14 Public Beta Five is now available for OTA download for anyone participating in the Public Beta program. This fifth beta is the third that public participants have been able to verify (fortunately, Apple doesn’t have to number the Beta Developer and Public for iOS 14 versions separately).
So far, things have gone pretty well. I discovered that third-party keyboards like Google’s have a tendency to crumble and that there are apps that work unevenly (like Vivint) or don’t work at all (like the new Quip app). But in the fundamental delight of iOS 14, things are usually solid (except for the insects indexed below, of course).
Some other people wondered how I had made a “no-app” house screen, as I mentioned on my Beta 4 cover. That’s how I did it.
First, it gets rid of all screens other than the one in the house. Touch and hold the screen (other than an app) and when your iPhone enters edit mode, press the page replacement button at the bottom. This will allow you to edit the pages. Deselect all yet one (don’t worry, if you’re not satisfied, those pages will be kept for you to repair them). iOS 14 will activate the app library where all those unused apps go. The app library organizes your apps into selection categories with a special location for the new apps and apps you think you need.
Then, delete all apps on the remaining screen and update them with the widgets you choose. I created one of them, the Siri Suggestions widget, which takes this folder from the app library and develops it, giving you two rows of apps that Siri believes are based on past usage and time of day.
So, no “no app”, however, I no longer have to organize folders or complain when new programs are launched on a remote screen (or worse, to create a logo on a new empty screen). Leaving iOS 14 to organize my apps has been my favorite component of the new operational formula so far.
The notes of the official publication allow us to delve into many areas, so let’s go.
These are the bugs that Apple has reported lately, but that doesn’t mean they’re all bugs in iOS 14. As a participant in the public beta program, you should make sure to locate and report anything that is not activated. ready through the Feedback app.
The patch list is shorter than in Public Beta 4, but that’s a smart thing to do. A shorter “fixed” list usually means that there are fewer insects in general. Of course, we still have several weeks before the release of iOS 14 in the wild, but the more solid the beta, the higher the public version.
There’s a new widget this week! If you used the News widget, you’ve probably been frustrated at seeing only one topic. Now you can load a longer multi-theme widget… but only on the search screen to the left of the home screen. It’s a commitment, but welcome if that means I don’t have to see the same two stories all day.
Other smaller settings come with the offset time selector retracement. It is now contained in the time box itself, which occupies a giant component of the screen (as it does lately in iOS 13). There is also a new option in the settings to disable hidden album in Photos.
Speaking of parameters, Covid’s tracking procedure is now more robust, allowing you to know when there is a regional tracking application and providing a more detailed explanation of how exposure notifications work. Hopefully, this will become more prominent in long-term versions than buried in the configuration.
Oh, and end users would possibly not see the effects of this addition in Public Beta 5, this edition nevertheless opens the app clips to developers. So be aware of which ones will start to appear if you’re testing a beta edition of third-party apps.
Along with the beta edition of watchOS 7, you can, in spite of everything, track your sleep. It’s nothing like the data-rich sleep tracking you get with fitness and lifestyle devices like Garmin and Polar. However, for a first effort, it’s pretty good.
We’re in a forged style of “every two weeks” and I don’t expect it to replace it until September. Probably with iOS 14 Public Beta 6, we’ll see the release schedule increase every week until release. If you’re also testing the watchOS 7 beta edition, you can expect it to appear next week.
iOS 14 still has quite a few bugs, making it an operational formula that is rarely reliable for everyday use. But it’s not so bad that I can’t imagine using it. All you have to do is adjust your stability and expect expectations accordingly. Sometimes the operational formula fails. Sometimes programs will have to restart. Sometimes, things may not go the way you expect. All of this is expected in a beta version. Let it know in the Comments app and help will make it more robust for the next release.
Overall, I am very satisfied with iOS 14 and am very happy to see that its stability has progressed over time. Widgets and the app library are turning the way we use our iPhones and I think they’ll inject a little much-needed excitement when it comes out this fall.
In the meantime, go to General Settings, update the software and start downloading. See you in the next public beta.
I wrote about technology, devices and pop culture before Apple had an idea of the iPhone. I saw Apple’s rise and fall (and ascent). I’ve been