What's new in the 5th beta release of iOS 18?
What's new in the 5th beta release of iOS 18?
Apple has released the 5th beta of the upcoming iOS 18, and seeded it for watchOS 11, and visionOS 2, let's look at what has changed in the latest release.
As we get closer and closer to the Fall we also get to see what the final, or golden master release of Apple’s major updates to its operating systems will look like. Today, we are one step closer with Apple releasing the 5th beta for iOS 18.
Let’s take a look at some of the notable changes packed in this beta.
iOS 18 beta 5 changes
This release of iOS 18 has two new notable changes that are worth talking about, as well as various bug fixes.
Photos App - Carousel View, Photo Grid
Apple has listened to developer/user feedback and removed the carousel view from the photos app as many people were not happy with it.
The update also included other changes to the layout and arrangement of the UI in the photos app such as the “All photos“ section of that now showing a larger portion of grid per an article by Tom's guide
Safari - Distraction Control
Apple has also introduced a new feature into Safari called Distraction Control— it allows you to remove distracting/unwanted elements from a webpage (such as ads, intrusive popups, login prompts, etc). It also remembers which elements you blocked for every URL so you won't have to remove them every time you visit the same website.
Here’s a video demonstration of Distraction Control in action, video is courtesy of @brandonbutch (threads.net)
It’s important to note that distraction control is not an AdBlocker—AdBlockers work by intercepting network traffic of a given website and only lets through web connections that are not coming from ad server, this isn’t that.
Small changes & bug fixes
There were other quality of life changes that were included in the new update as well they are as follows (not an exhaustive list)
The Apple Maps & Find My app dark mode icons have been slightly redesigned.
The app icons in spotlight search will be dark when dark mode is active.
Some icons in the control center have been redesigned.
The update also included a lot of bug fixes that were present in the previous releases, so if you are using iOS 18 in your day-to-day phone and experiencing issues, it may worth updating to the newest beta assuming you have access to a developer account, as it is currently only a private beta.
As we get closer to the September launch event, don’t expect any new major features to be shipped out. From here on out Apple will most likely focus on refining the user experience on iOS 18 and making it ready for its official 18.0 debut which will also be when the iPhone 16 comes out.