After seeding the third beta of iOS 18.5, Apple seems to be reaching the end of its testing cycle with beta 4. With iOS 18.5 expected to be released in mid-May, it seems the company is tweaking its software instead of adding new features, as we approach the iOS 19 announcement. This is everything we know about it.
With iOS 18.5 beta, the company fixed one of the most annoying iPhone changes everyone hates: the new Mail. As tested in the first iOS 18.5 beta, this update will fix the Contact Photos “issue” by offering Mail users a new menu that lets them toggle the feature with a simple tick. That should have always been the case.
You could disable Contact Photos in Mail before the iOS 18.5 update, but that required a visit to the Settings app, where you’d have the option to disable Contact Photos in the Mail menu. You can still do that while you wait for iOS 18.5 to drop.
Apple also tweaked AppleCare information in the Settings app, adding a banner with an AppleCare logo and other details about coverage. There are also references to the upcoming Pride wallpaper coming later next month.
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Besides that, it’s unclear what else Apple might be planning to add with iOS 18.5 beta. At first, it was expected that Cupertino would delay the on-device screen awareness Siri for this update. However, we now know it has been delayed indefinitely.
Without this Apple Intelligence feature, Apple doesn’t have new AI functions to introduce during the iOS 18 cycle. With the previous release, the company added the following functionalities, including these Apple Intelligence improvements:
- New languages: Apple adds Chinese, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and localized English for Singapore and India.
- Image Playground: The long-awaited Sketch style is now available alongside the Animation and Illustration options.
- Genmoji: Apple tweaked the Genmoji icon on the keyboard, as it now reads “Genmoji.”
- Visual Intelligence: Apple added the Visual Intelligence feature to the Action Button so iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16e users could take advantage of it.
Below, you can learn more about iOS 18.
