Apple might be ready to move show off to iOS 16 at WWDC 2022 in a few days, but the company hasn’t turned its back on iOS 15. The second beta of iOS 15.6 has already been in developers' hands, and now it's rolling out to participants in Apple's iOS public beta program.
iOS 15.6 follows on the heels of the iOS 15.5, which introduced a number of noteworthy updates like adding Apple Pay Cash to the Wallet app and introducing a new “Apple Account Card.” Apple Podcast also got a new setting in the iOS 15.5 beta update to limit the number of episodes stored on your iPhone.
The changes found in the iOS 15.6 beta 2 update aren't nearly as dramatic. We can see some leftover bugs being fixed and a few tweaks here and there. Here’s a round-up of what the iOS 15.6 update will bring to iPhones.
iOS 15.6: Apple Music bug
While reinstalling the Apple Music app from the App Store, an iOS bug caused Apple Music to kick other apps from the dock. iOS 15.6 beta 2 will finally fix this bug and the app will appear on the homescreen instead.
iOS 15.6 Beta 2 fixes the music bug when re-downloading Apple Music it would replace your music app in the dock. pic.twitter.com/ggYleWFBnqJune 1, 2022
iOS 15.6: Accessibility options
The first iOS 15.6 beta hinted at new accessibility options. Back in May for World Accessibility Day, Apple previewed a number of changes coming to its devices later this year, and we suspect that iOS 15.6 sets the stage for some of these. The more interesting accessibility features previewed by Apple include Live Captions for social media and video apps, including FaceTime, that essentially offer real-time closed captioning for anyone who has hearing difficulties. A Siri Pause Time lets you adjust how long Siri waits before responding to you — helpful if you have a speech impairment — and a door detection capability that uses sensors on Apple devices to alert users to doors when they're in an unfamiliar place.
It's unclear if any of these accessibility features would go live with iOS 15.6, but we do know that Apple has committed to them.
Additionally, iOS 15.6 seems to include a setting to hide the stock keyboard’s emoji search button
iOS 15.6 and iOS 16
The iOS 15.6 update comes as Apple is about to show off iOS 16, which will reportedly include a new look for the lockscreen, notification improvements and other changes. However, a full version of the new software won't come out until the fall. (Here’s how you can watch the WWDC livestream if you want to see the iOS 16 preview and other Apple announcements.)
That gives iOS 15.6 room to bring its modest feature enhancements and bug fixes to iPhones, which will likely happen after WWDC if the beta process of previous iOS updates is any indication. Apple typically releases multiple betas before a final version is released to the general public.
Next: Be sure to check out all the new rumored iOS 16 features for your iPhone.
