Apple has released iOS 14.4 beta 2. What’s new

Today, January 13, Apple released the second beta of iOS 14.4, macOS 11.2, watchOS 7.3, and tvOS 14.4. Their launch took place almost a month after the release of the debut assemblies. Usually Apple does not allow itself to take such long breaks, trying to release fresh updates, including test ones, every 1-2 weeks. And such delays occur only in exceptional cases, which in Cupertino are not in the habit of spreading to users, believing that this information will be superfluous for them. This is probably for the best.

iOS 14.4 is already available for download for developers and users with developer profiles

All four updates are already available for download over the air for developers or users who have a beta profile. We have repeatedly told where you can get it, so if you are interested in installing test updates, you can read about it at this link. Most importantly, remember that it is better to make a backup before doing so in order to be able to restore all data in case of failure.

What’s new in iOS 14.4

IOS 14.4 has fewer new features than iOS 14.3

In terms of innovations, iOS 14.4 will be poorer than iOS 14.3, which preceded it. But since so far we are dealing only with the second assembly, we will not make final conclusions about the content of the upcoming update. Let’s go over only the existing features.

• Tactile feedback when transferring media from iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 to HomePod mini;
• Apple Watch now has a Time to Walk feature;
• Apple Watch introduces guided audio workouts (most likely related to Fitness +;
• The iPhone and iPad now have a special mechanism that requests permission to track ad IDs in apps;
• Find My app now has links to third-party devices that can be searched for via Bluetooth.

Find missing iOS devices

iOS 14.4 weighs less than 400MB. Apparently, because there are almost no innovations

As you can see, there are not very many innovations in iOS 14.4, firstly, and, secondly, the most valuable of them are not aimed at iPhone users. More or less interesting is the update of the Find My application, which will now be able to search for devices released by third-party manufacturers. While the mechanism is not working, it will most likely work at the time of the update release, allowing users to find missing devices if they are equipped with Bluetooth.

It is especially great that the search will be possible even if the iPhone with “Find” is at a considerable distance from the lost device. This became possible due to the fact that the application assigns a unique identifier to the gadget, which can recognize the iPhones of passing users. They fix the emitted signal, determine its location and send a notification to the Apple servers, from where it goes to the owner of the loss.