Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 15.1 to developers on Tuesday, just a day after the general public got access to iOS 15. The company also gave devs access to the initial betas for iPadOS 15.1, watchOS 8.1 and tvOS 15.1. These are expected to include some of the features promised earlier but removed from the versions that debuted on Monday to give additional development time.
In addition, Apple released to macOS Monterey beta 7 to developers.
iOS 15: Several late features
iOS 15 brought quite a few features, but some of the ones unveiled at the WWDC developers conference back in June aren’t ready for release. The same goes for iPadOS 15 and tvOS.
At the top of the list is SharePlay. This will allow users to enjoy music, movies, TV shows, etc., together during a call. But it’s still in testing in iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1, etc.
And iPad users are still waiting for Universal Control, which will let users easily jump between controlling their Mac and their iPad. This is likely waiting until the debut of macOS Monterey.
Speaking of which, the macOS Monterey beta 7 seeded to developers on Tuesday is the first in three weeks. Its build number ends in “h” in a countdown to “a” so the release isn’t expected for weeks. No previous beta has included Universal Control.
With these just going out for testing, the complete list of features in them is not yet known.
Just for developers
Currently, iOS 15.1 beta 1, iPadOS 15.1 beta 1, watchOS 8.1 beta 1 tvOS 15.1 beta 1 and macOS Monterey beta 7 are only for developers. But if Apple follows its previous habits, public beta versions will be along.
In the mean time, getting access to these pre-release editions requires joining the Apple Developer Program, which costs $99 a year.
