iOS 14.5 is the next version of iOS, and while it’s not as big of an update as iOS 15, which isn’t expected to reach its finalized form until September, it’s still set to add a lot of new features and improvements.
We know this because iOS 14.5 is already in beta, so developers and members of the public have discovered all kinds of interesting additions.
Below, we highlight the top five things we expect in iOS 14.5. It is important to note that there is a chance that some of these things will not appear, as occasionally beta features do not reach the final version, but we would certainly expect most of them.
We’ve also included information on when iOS 14.5 is likely to arrive, so those who don’t want to face the beta know how long they will have to wait.
IOS 14.5 release date
There is no news on exactly when iOS 14.5 will be released, but we have reason to believe that it will happen soon.
There are a few reasons for this. First of all, it is already available in public and developer beta versions, which suggests it is likely to arrive soon. But, second and most importantly, Apple has released a new version 14.x every month since the release of iOS 14, and iOS 14.4 was released in January, so we can see iOS 14.5 this month (February).
That said, iOS 14.4 started to be implemented in late January, and the real difference between the new versions is just over a month on average, so it could be in late February or even early March when we get to iOS 14.5, but only a few weeks to go.
Five things iOS 14.5 will bring to your iPhone
We expect several updates as part of iOS 14.5, but we’ve listed below the five most interesting ones we’ve heard about so far.
1. Mask holder for facial ID
The facial ID was great until we all started wearing masks, but with iOS 14.5 Apple is making it great again, at least for Apple Watch owners.
That’s because, as long as your Apple Watch is unlocked, you can now use it to authenticate your identity on the phone, which means that you can simply lift the phone as if you were using Face ID and it will be unlocked with a buzz on your phone. wrist to report that your watch has done the heavy lifting.
However, while this works to unlock the iPhone, it currently doesn’t work for other things that depend on facial ID, such as authenticating purchases.
2. A standard music player of your choice
In iOS 14.4 and earlier, you’re stuck with Apple Music as the default music player, but iOS 14.5 beta finally lets you change that.
The first time you request a song from Siri, it should ask which player you want to use, with Spotify among many others supported, so, from now on, it should always be standardized for that player, so you won’t have to specify in each request.
We say that ‘should’ do this because the beta version seems to have some initial problems and is not working consistently for people, but we hope that these problems will be resolved in time for the final version of iOS 14.5.
3. Application tracking transparency
IOS 14.5 is also expected to include a major new privacy feature called App Tracking Transparency. This will require applications to obtain your permission before sharing your activities and data with third-party websites and applications.
This data sharing is often used for ads, with Facebook, for example, making great use of it, but with App Tracking Transparency you can cancel if you prefer, and Apple insists that users still have full access to applications, even if they choose for not participating.
4. PS5 and Xbox Series X controller support
If you are a gamer, you will probably appreciate the addition of support for PS5 and Xbox Series X controllers as part of iOS 14.5. The Verge reports that this feature was found in the public beta and should be a useful update for anyone who owns one of these consoles, especially those that also use Apple Arcade.
Arguably, this would be even more useful for games on an Apple TV, and although the feature is not yet confirmed for tvOS, we hope that it will soon be added to that as well.
5. Crowdsourcing alerts on Apple Maps
Many of us are not going anywhere at the moment, but for those who use Apple Maps a lot, there is a new potentially useful feature in iOS 14.5 beta.
MacRumors reports that you can now report accidents, hazards and speed checks on your journey and, presumably, if enough people flag the same thing, a warning about it will appear on Apple Maps – albeit with so many people at home and the resource is still in beta, not being used enough to confirm as far as we can see.