News: Apple Releases iOS 14 Public Beta 5 for iPhone, Includes Widget Location Settings & 'Tall' Apple News Widget Size

Apple just released the fifth public beta for iOS 14 today, Wednesday, Aug. 19. This update comes one day after Apple released iOS 14 developer beta 5. It follows iOS 14 developer beta 4 by 15 days, and iOS 14 public beta 4 by 13 days.

Apple released this new update to public testers at 1 p.m. PDT. We've come to expect Apple to release public beta updates for iOS 14 at least one day after a developer beta release (sometimes two) so today's release is far from a surprise.

• Update: Apple's iOS 14 Public Beta 6 Is Now Available for iPhone

So, what's new with beta 5? One of the biggest changes we've noticed out of the gate is widget-specific location settings. When you access a widget that uses location data like Maps or Weather, iOS will now ask if that widget has your permission to use your location. You can customize these permissions for applicable apps in Settings –> Privacy –> Location Services.

In the Clock app, you'll now be able to scroll through the time when setting an alarm. It's reminiscent of how scrolling works in iOS 13 and earlier, but much more minimalist. You'll also find a "Tall" widget for Apple News, which can now fit seven headlines. That said, it's only available on the Today View, and can't be added to your home screen.

You can now disable the Hidden album in Photos via Settings. That said, the "Hide" option will always remain available on photos and videos, regardless of this setting.

There are also now "Availability Alerts" for COVID-19 Exposure Notifications. If your region or state now offers a contract tracing app, these alerts can keep you in the loop. There's also a new splash screen for Shortcuts upon first launching the app.

Here are some other awesome tweaks and changes in beta 5:

• Color changes to player background in Apple Music
• Apple Music icons slightly bolder
• Slight UI changes in CarPlay
• More images to choose from when selecting icons in Shortcuts
• "Sleep Well" replaced by bed icon during bedtime
• Home screen page dots raised
• Folders are now slightly elongated
• Home app icons are now once again smaller in Control Center
• Screen Time restrictions now affect widgets as well
• Weather widget refreshes more often
• Calendar widget now more grey in dark mode
• Notes widget now darker in dark mode
• "Photos" is now "Library" in the Photos app
• New "Remove From Featured Photos" Quick Action menu option for Photos widget
• Light and Dark mode options in Settings now uses iOS 14 wallpapers
• Siri results are now properly optimized for 5.8" iPhones using "Zoomed" display mode
• "Last Charged" now includes charge number bold and next to text in Settings –> Battery
• New description for "Magnifier"
• "Filter Customization" now "Filters" in Magnifier settings
• When collapsing controls in Magnifier, you now see an arrow instead of a flat line
• Photo preview thumbnails are now smaller in the image selector
• Tapping a missed call notification no longer auto-dials that number
• "Privacy Report" in Safari now specifies how many trackers it prevented
• Slight change to Home app navigation icons

While dev beta 4 was definitely a much smaller update than the first three betas, it still offered some unique features, like a COVID-19 exposure notification Settings page, a new TV widget, and minor, system-wide visual tweaks.

iOS & iPadOS 14 Beta 5 Release Notes

Overview

• The iOS & iPadOS 14 SDK provides support to develop apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS & iPadOS 14. The SDK comes bundled with Xcode 12 beta 5, available from Beta Software Downloads. For information on the compatibility requirements for Xcode 12 beta 5, see Xcode 12 Beta 5 Release Notes.

General - Known Issues

• Important — Updating to iOS & iPadOS 14 beta from previous versions of iOS & iPadOS might take significantly longer than expected. Data loss could occur if the update is interrupted. (59101197)
• macOS Big Sur 11 beta or Xcode 12 beta might be required to sync or update devices running iOS & iPadOS 14 beta.

Apple Security Bounty

• iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5 is designated as qualifying for the 50% Apple Security Bounty bonus payment for issues that are unknown to Apple or reintroduced in this release. See Apple Security Bounty for more information.

App Clips - New Features in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• You can now use Settings > Developer Settings to test an App Clip card. (64787288)

Control Center - Known Issues

• The Airplane Mode indicator might not reflect the current Airplane Mode status in Settings. (66932775)

App Store - Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• App Store no longer quits unexpectedly if Full Keyboard Access is enabled. (65240690)

App Store - Known Issues

• Avoid calling the presentCodeRedemptionSheet() API until you're able to create supported codes. (59351258)

ClassKit - Known Issues

• In ClassKit API development mode, ClassKit completeAllAssignedActivitiesMatching: isn't marking CLSContext as done. (66169497)

Core Haptics - Known Issues

• CHHapticEngine vended through the Game Controller framework (GCDeviceHaptics) don't support CHHapticAdvancedPatternPlayer and an error is returned on advanced player creation.
• audioCustom and audioContinuous events sent to CHHapticEngine vended through the Game Controller framework (GCDeviceHaptics) are silently ignored. (65163373)
• The creation of CHHapticEngine via class initializers is available only in iOS. For other platforms, access these engines via GCController. (65481931)

Files - Known Issues

• Encrypted APFS volumes might not appear in the sidebar. (66825585)

Fonts - Known Issues

• Beginning in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta, fonts installed using configuration profiles are only available to apps supporting the font APIs and entitlements introduced in iOS & iPadOS 13. If your app provides a custom font-selection interface, it can no longer access fonts installed via configuration profiles. For reference, see the WWDC 2019 Session Font Management and Text Scaling (55317428)

Home Screen - Known Issues

• Spotlight might not appear as expected. (64121178) Workaround: Restart your device.

Home Screen - Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Apps installed using Xcode now appear in the Recently Added category of App Library. (66358317)
• Apps which you've chosen to offload no longer appear in the Recently Added category of App Library. (65947421)

HomeKit - Known Issues

• You might be prompted to use HomePods as a stereo pair whenever viewing accessory details, if the HomePods are assigned to the same room. (66736623)

Key-Value Observing - New Features in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Key-Value Observation removal facilities now employ deterministic bookkeeping methods. Cases that would have produced hard-to-diagnose crashes, especially those where KVO signals problems accessing deallocated observer pointers or observers associated with incorrect objects, now produce an exception pinpointing which observed object needs a missed removeObserver(_:) call, and by which observers. This exception was previously thrown as 'best effort' when KVO could detect the problem; the new deterministic bookkeeping allows it to be thrown for all cases where removeObserver(_:) is needed.
• The improved determinism also allows improved Swift API handling. Instances of NSKeyValueObservation, produced by the Swift NSObject.observe(_:changeHandler:) method, take advantage of integration with this bookkeeping so they now invalidate automatically when the observed object is released, regardless of how the object implements its KVO behavior. This applies to all usage of this API in macOS 11 Big Sur beta, including on processes built with previous versions of the SDK, and eliminates certain classes of crashes that sometimes required using the legacy API instead. (65051563)

Localization - Known Issues

• Certain languages might exhibit clipped or misaligned layout.
• Certain languages might display unlocalized text. (63246545, 64040564)

Mail - Known Issues

• Exchange OAuth accounts which require user re-authentication, such as after restoring your device from a backup, aren't able to re-authenticate. (66805583) Workaround: Remove and then re-add the account.

Mail - Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Mail can now connect to SMTP servers that support only AUTH LOGIN command. (65479094)
• Mail can now connect to SMTP servers that require fully qualified hostnames during HELO. (65575697)
• Microsoft Exchange and Outlook.com accounts now display an error if the wrong account type is used during login. (65626340)

Maps - Known Issues

• After updating to iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 2 or later, user data, such as Favorites, Collections, and Recents no longer syncs with devices running earlier versions of iOS & iPadOS. (65005848)

Maps - Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Maps no longer quits unexpectedly when launched. (66328107)

Nearby Interaction - Known Issues

• Nearby Interaction framework doesn't initiate successfully when the device is located in Japan, South Korea, or Vietnam. After calling run(:), session(:didUpdate:) isn't called. (66822968)

Notification Center - Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Attachment thumbnails are no longer missing from Messages notifications. (66183063)

Phone and FaceTime - Known Issues

• Control Center indicates "Phone" is using the microphone for calls placed over the cellular network, but indicates "System" for calls placed over Wi-Fi networks. (64269165)

RealityKit - New Features in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• To properly render an augmented reality Scene with the post processing effects available in RealityKit, the pipeline now writes depth information when rendering translucent materials. This makes the order that meshes are drawn more impactful for the final image. To properly author content for this pipeline, break up big meshes into smaller parts, especially when the meshes are intertwined. (66535399)

Shortcuts - Known Issues

• Automations might not run if they're scheduled immediately after one another. (65255964)

Siri - New Features in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• You can use INMediaUserContext, Core Spotlight, and Intents to improve media interactions and App Selection. For more information, see Improving Siri Media Interactions and App Selection. (67026608)

Siri - Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Searching for "Timer" and tapping a suggestion to start a timer now starts the timer as expected. (62849336)

SwiftUI - Known Issues

• ProgressView generic type signature has changed, adding the currentValueLabel generic parameter. This change does not require any source changes, but will cause apps compiled using an earlier beta SDK to quit unexpectedly. (63580200) Workaround: Re-compile apps for iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5 or later to resolve this issue.
• Document-based apps are unable to create new untitled documents in the app document browser. (66936677) Workaround: Open an existing document, or create a new untitled document outside the app.
• The KeyboardShortcut modifier and commands(content:) aren't currently functional. (65704705)
• Rebuilding against the iOS 14 SDK will modify instances of custom(_:size:) to scale with dynamic type. To create a font which doesn't scale with dynamic type, use custom(_:fixedSize:). (51463566)
• The SignInWithAppleButton view expands to fill its container. (64136568) Workaround: Apply a frame modifier.

SwiftUI - New Features in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Color can be converted to and from CGColor. The ColorPicker can also now be configured with a binding to a CGColor. (56939085)
• Introduced ToolbarItemGroup as a convenient way to place multiple items in a specific location of non-customizable toolbars. (64178863)
• ProgressView now supports adding a secondary "current value label" that describes the current progress level of the task. Use the label to describe the overall task, and the currentValueLabel to provide more specific details about the progress of the task. (63580200)
• FileDocument and have updated protocol requirements: Their initializer requirement now has a single FileDocumentReadConfiguration parameter that the fileWrapper and contentType can be read from.
• Their write() functions that were expected to write to an inout FileWrapper parameter are now fileWrapper() functions that return a FileWrapper instead.
• The Document-based app templates in Xcode have been updated to reflect this change in API.
• Source compatibility with the previous requirements will eventually be removed. (65146043)
• KeyboardShortcut and Commands are now available on iOS & iPadOS. (62614998)

SwiftUI - Resolved Issues in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Images that contain multicolor symbols will now adapt to color appearance. (63726389)
• Text(_ style:) no longer truncates. Text now has flexible width inside a widget. (60588299)
• Placeholder-style redacted Text that has a lineLimit(1) modifier applied now appears as expected. (66346107)
• Applying a fixedSize() modifier to a TextEditor will now fix its size to the size of its content. (64855179)
• Placeholder-style redacted Text that has a minimumScaleFactor modifier applied now appears as expected. (66242496)
• GraphicalDatePickerStyle will now layout appropriately when placed inside a List and Form. (64671628)
• Form, List, and TextEditor no longer hide content behind the keyboard. (66172025)
• Adding a principal ToolbarItem will now be placed if the View also specifies a title using navigationTitle(_:). (64953185)
• Placeholder-style redacted Text that has a minimumScaleFactor modifier applied now appears as expected. (66242496)

Third-Party Apps - Known Issues

• Apps using JSONKit might quit unexpectedly on launch. Some forks of JSONKit hardcode private pointer-representation details, which are subject to change. (60290929) Workaround: Use NSJSONSerialization instead.
• fstab has been removed. Filesystem contents outside of an app's sandbox can no longer be used for validation. (61098152)
• Apps using the NativeScript framework might quit unexpectedly on launch. NativeScript performs an unsafe operation to determine if an arbitrary pointer is an Objective-C object pointer. You can temporarily resolve this issue by using objectgetClass(:) instead of reading the isa directly; however, update this code to avoid checking whether arbitrary pointers are Objective-C object pointers. (62913064)

Wallet - Known Issues

• isPassLibraryAvailable() doesn't ensure uniform availability of pass library functionality between platforms and devices. (60697880) Workaround: Call a more specific API to check available functionality, such as canAddPasses().

Widgets - Known Issues

• All widgets must be rebuilt using the iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 4 SDK or later and won't run on previous versions of iOS & iPadOS 14 beta. (65290210)
• Some widgets might appear blank after updating to iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 4 or later. (65989369) Workaround: Remove the affected widgets and then add them again.
• Some widgets might disappear from your Home Screen after updating to iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 2 or later. (64823469) Workaround: Add the missing widgets back to your Home Screen.
• You can't resize an existing widget. (63500799) Workaround: Remove the widget and re-add it at the desired size.
• You might need to reconfigure your widgets after updating to iOS & iPadOS 14 Beta 3 or later. (65485709)
• Location-based widgets might not reload after changing location authorization settings. (66280169)
• The Weather widget might be unable to determine your location. (66929312)
• The Weather widget might appear blank after updating to iOS 14 beta 5. (66782070) Workaround: Tap the widget to open the Weather app, then return to the widget on the Home screen.
• On iPadOS, the Weather widget might unexpectedly have Always location access. (66922805)

Widgets - Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• Widgets are now blocked for Screen Time when their parent app is blocked. (60747373)
• Fonts size now adjust automatically for different device sizes. (60348216)
• WidgetKit extensions can continue to access location services for up to 15 minutes after being viewed if their app has been granted While Using the App location access. The user now receives an alert about the 15 minute location access grace period. (62888317)
• The weather widget now displays data in a timely manner. (66014597)

Xcode - Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 14 beta 5

• The appStoreOverlay(isPresented:configuration:) view modifier is now available when building for Simulator targets. (66177659)

To update your iPhone to iOS 14 public beta 5, sign up through Apple's beta site, download and install the configuration profile, then update over the air. If you already have the profile, go to Settings –> General –> Software Update to begin the installation of the latest beta build, or you can wait until it installs automatically if "Automatic Updates" is enabled.