News: Apple Just Released iOS 13.4.5 Developer Beta 1 for iPhone, Includes New Apple Music Feature

Apple just released the first developer beta for iOS 13.4.5 on Tuesday, March 31. The update follows the previous week's stable release of iOS 13.4.

Apple seeded developers the first beta for iOS 13.4.5 at 10 a.m. PDT, the company's standard release time for developer beta updates. You won't see this update hit your iPhone if you're a public beta tester, however. You'll need to wait for Apple to release 13.4.5 public beta 1, which we expect to see at 10 a.m. PDT on April 1.

The only new feature we see so far is the ability to share Apple Music songs to Instagram and Facebook stories. That addition follows a trend of cross-platform support for sharing content to stories, such as your current Netflix binge.

• Update: Apple Releases iOS 13.4.5 Developer Beta 2 for iPhone

While that might be the only new feature so far, it's not the only thing new about 13.4.5. As discovered by 9to5Mac, 13.4.5 includes code referencing a Touch ID device that supports CarKey, even when your iPhone's battery is dead. That's possible through Express Transit's power reserve feature, which is only currently available on the 2019 iPhone models. That implies the code is for the rumored iPhone SE 2, which would pack 2019 iPhone-tech into the body of an iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

In addition, Steve Moser of MacRumors discovered that Apple included Activity awards through 2022 in the code for 13.4.5. They aren't user-facing just yet, so you won't be able to see them, but rest assured Apple has a plan for your Activity awards for quite some time.

We knew Apple had something beta-related planned for the week, we just didn't know what. The initial reporting came from The Verifier, an Israeli news outlet that has a mixed tracked record for Apple rumors, according to MacRumors. The Verifier claimed Apple was gearing up for a 13.4.1 release. Why Apple went with 13.4.5 is still a mystery.

You can find the complete, yet brief, release notes for 13.4.5 dev beta 1 below:

iOS & iPadOS 13.4.5 Beta Release Notes

Overview

• The iOS & iPadOS 13.4 SDK provides support to develop apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS & iPadOS 13.4.5. The SDK comes bundled with Xcode 11.4, available from the Mac App Store. For information on the compatibility requirements for Xcode 11.4, see Xcode 11.4 Release Notes.

To update your iPhone to iOS 13.4.5 dev beta 1, you'll need to be a registered developer. You can use the restore image for your iPhone available in the Developer portal (install with iTunes or Finder) or install the configuration profile, then update over the air. If you already have the profile installed on your iPhone, head over to Settings –> General –> Software Update to start installing the latest beta build, or you can wait until it installs automatically if "Automatic Updates" is enabled.