News: Apple Releases iOS 14.5 Developer Beta 4 for iPhone

Apple released the fourth developer beta for iPhone today, Monday, Mar. 15. The update (build number 18E5178a) comes 13 days after Apple seeded developers the third 14.5 beta, and 12 days after public testers received their third 14.5 update.

Apple released this update at 10 a.m. PDT, the company's standard release time for developer beta updates. That's a deviation from last week's update, where Apple unexpectedly released the update at 1 p.m. PDT, quickly pulled the update, then subsequently made the update available again.

While 14.5 as a whole introduces a slew of new features and changes, beta 4 seems to be more of a minor update. According to 9to5Mac, Apple includes a reference to "City Charts" playlists in beta 4's code. These playlists will contain the most popular tracks from areas throughout the world. That said, City Charts are not user-facing yet, so it's not clear exactly when Apple will release the feature.

iOS & iPadOS 14.5 Beta 4 Release Notes

Update your apps to use new features, and test your apps against API changes.

Overview

• The iOS & iPadOS 14.5 SDK provides support to develop apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS & iPadOS 14.5 beta 4. The SDK comes bundled with Xcode 12.5 beta 3, available from Beta Software Downloads. For information on the compatibility requirements for Xcode 12.5, see Xcode 12.5 Beta 3 Release Notes.

Audio: Known Issues

• You might be unable to use Handoff to transfer audio to HomePod. (74799729) Workaround: Use playback controls or Control Center instead.

How to Update Your iPhone to the Latest iOS 14.5 Beta

You'll need an Apple developer account to update your iPhone. You can get the restore image from your dev portal, then install it with iTunes or Finder. Otherwise, install the configuration profile, then update by going to Settings –> General –> Software Update. Finally, you can simply wait for it to auto-install if you have a dev profile and "Automatic Updates" is enabled.