Apple released the first iOS 17.5 beta to public beta testers on Thursday, two days after the company released the beta to developers and about a month after the release of iOS 17.4. The latest beta brings a handful of new features, like more ways for people in the European Union to download apps, to the iPhones of some developers and beta testers.
We recommend downloading a beta only on something other than your primary device. Because this isn’t the final version of iOS 17.5, these features might be buggy and battery life may be short, and it’s best to keep those troubles on a secondary device.
If you’re a developer or public beta tester, here are some of the new features you might find in iOS 17.5 beta 1. Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 17.5, so there could be more features to land on your iPhone when iOS 17.5 is released. There’s no word on when Apple will release iOS 17.5 to the public yet.
Read more: You Should Really Download iOS 17.4.1 Right Now
Download apps from sites… but only for people in the EU
According to MacRumors, iOS 17.5 beta 1 introduces the ability to download apps right from a developer’s website instead of through an app store. However, this feature will only work for people in the EU. Apple announced this capability on March 12, alongside other EU-specific developer features, like the ability to choose the design of in-app promotions.
This is the latest EU-specific feature to come to iPhone users. When Apple released iOS 17.4 in March, a big part of that update was allowing people in the EU to download alternate app stores in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act.
Podcast widget changes color
The Podcast widget can change color to match what you’re listening to.
With iOS 17.5 beta 1, your Podcast widget will change color depending on the artwork of whatever podcast you’re listening to at the moment. So if the podcast you’re listening to has red artwork, the widget will turn red.
This aesthetic feature was in some early iOS 17.4 betas, but Apple removed it from that update’s public release. In iOS 17.4, Apple also brought transcripts to podcasts which makes the audio media more accessible for more people.
Books app counter tool
It appears iOS 17.5 beta 1 also wants to help people achieve their reading goals. With the update, the Books app gets a counter in the top right corner of the app’s homepage. If you tap this counter, the app takes you to your Reading Goals menu. This menu shows you how much time you’ve spent reading today. There’s also a button here that reads Explore the Book Store which opens the Book Store.
At first, Books sets your daily reading goal for five minutes a day, but you can change this goal to anywhere between 1 minute or the absurd 1,440 minutes (24 hours) a day — I like to read, but that feels a little aggressive.
The Books app wants to help you reach your reading goal.
Those are a few of the new features some developers and beta testers will see in the first iOS 17.5 beta. That doesn’t mean these are the only features coming to the next iOS update, or that these changes will stick when iOS 17.5 is released to the public. As of now, there’s no word on when Apple will release iOS 17.5.
For more on iOS 17, here’s what to know about iOS 17.4.1. You can also check out what was included in iOS 17.4 and our iOS 17 cheat sheet.
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Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. He has a bachelor’s in Media Arts from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. After starting in forensic videography, she embarked upon a career as a photographer, writer, and editor. He is an Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab Fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller Fellow, a Tribeca All-Access Grantee and a WGBH Producer Fellow. In 2020, Emerson was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Film and Media Industries for the State of New Mexico. He currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband, the producer Kelly Byars, run their production company Reel Indian Pictures. Shutter is her first novel