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Here’s everything new in the latest iOS 9, El Capitan, and watchOS betas

Apple earlier today began rolling out the third betas of iOS 9, watchOS 2, and OS X 10.11 El Capitan and we’ve been digging into each of them, trying to figure out what is new, changed, and improved. Most of the changes come on the iOS 9 and watchOS 2 side of things, with the new OS X 10.11 beta focusing mainly on under-the-hood changes. Read on for all of the changes…

What’s new in watchOS beta 3:

watchOS 2 beta 3 includes a variety of enhancements and bug fixes. For one, the update enlarges the size of the keypad buttons, making them significantly easier to tap. When data is unavailable, an underscore (__) is now displayed instead of dashes. Control of brightness and volume is now more granular, with brightness control gaining another mid-tier setting and volume control gaining a smooth slider. The Music icon is also changed to match the one found in iOS 8.4 and iOS 9 and Beats 1 has been added to the Music app. The Weather app now shows the last time it was updated now, as well. Finally, beta 3 of watchOS 2 also adds Activation Lock, which Apple had previously announced was coming.

  • Enlarged keypad buttons
  • ____ instead of — when data is unavailable
  • More granular control of volume and brightness
  • New Music icon
  • Beats 1 support in the Music app
  • Weather details when it was last updated
  • Activation Lock added
  • Pressing the Digital Crown on the app screen immediately returns you to the watch face

What’s new in El Capitan beta 3:

On the El Capitan side of things, the operating system now supports dragging a window out of the top bar in Mission Control and moving it back to the desktop as a separate window. The Calendar application also has a new splash screen that details the new features of the application. Beta 3 also fixes several bugs from beta 2, as you would it expect it to.

  • Several bug fixes have been made to existing features
  • Dragging a window out of the top bar in Mission Control now allows you to move it back to the desktop as a separate window
  • Calendar has a new splash screen (see above)

What’s new in iOS 9 beta 3:

Finally, on the iOS 9 beta 3 also brings its fair share of enhancements. For one, Apple News is included in the build, also in a beta form. We went hands-on with it earlier today. On the iPad, folders now support a 4×4 setup of icons, as opposed to 3×3. In the Mail app, there are new icons when you swipe left and right on messages. The Photos app has new dedicated folders for selfies and screenshots, as well. Finally, there is a new setting in Settings to allow Apple Music to stream high quality over cellular.

  • Apple News added
  • 4×4 setup in folders on the iPad
  • New icons in Mail
  • Dedicated selfie and screenshot folders in Photos
  • Setting to allow high-quality streaming over cellular for Apple Music
  • New Calendar icon appears in Spotlight search
  • Siri no longer makes her classic “ding” sound

El Capitan, iOS 9, and watchOS 2 will all launch to the public this fall.

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Comments

  1. Le Der - 9 years ago

    can someone please help me, how can i get the sound that the apple watch makes when you put it to charge, i want to use it as text tone on my iphone

    • Alex H (@MetalHaze) - 9 years ago

      Open garageband or Quicktime on your desktop computer and use a microphone to record the audio. Then just save the audio in the ringtone format (I think it’s .m4a), add the file to your Ringtones in iTunes, and then sync the ring tone to your device.

      • Vinnie Narace - 9 years ago

        The extension is not .m4a its m4r

      • Once you’ve done this, PLEASE share it with me! I love that tone and think it would be awesome. I don’t have an apple watch or I’d also figure it out.

    • Luis Morales Fukutake - 9 years ago

      hack your way into watchOS and find the audio file, extract it, decode it, open it with garageband, export it as watchringtone.m4a, open itunes and add it to your ringtone library, sync your iPhone, open settings app, navigate through sounds>text tone look for the ringtone you just created, wait for someone to text you. have fun!

    • Once you have this tone, PLEASE send it to me! I love that noise and think it would be a great text tone as well. Don’t have an apple watch or I’d figure it out as well.

  2. incredibilistic - 9 years ago

    I suspect the 4×4 is yet another sign that a larger iPad is coming. Being limited to a 3×3 layout would be insane for what will likely be a 12″ device.

  3. Not sure if this was already in previous builds but in WatchOS: if you swipe down in the music app now you get the option to choose music source: http://i.juans.me/image/0K3a3P3q2e1R

  4. Another addition but greatly appreciated…

    On watchOS 2 beta 3, pressing the crown while on the App Screen no longer centers to the clock app, it now just goes straight back to the watch face!

  5. Bendik Hallstensen - 9 years ago

    Am I the only one who did not get the News app after the update?

    • Set the iPhone country to U.S. to get Apple News.

      • Vinnie Narace - 9 years ago

        I see a lot of people asking this question, I am in Canada and I received the News App. Is it only limited to North America?

      • Rio (@Crzy_rio) - 9 years ago

        @Vinni Narace In your iPhone settings, do you have it set to Canada too? or US?

        I hope its coming to Canada too!

  6. Ryan Walters - 9 years ago

    Is it just me, or did they remove the ability to drag your finger to select multiple photos to delete in the Photos app?

  7. Arnaud Nelissen - 9 years ago

    iPad Notification Center in Landscape presents both tabs at once. Was it already the case in previous betas ?

  8. Real Apple Nerd - 9 years ago

    watchOS 1.0.1 already has a granular volume slider.

  9. Dan Eaton - 9 years ago

    My watch is on v1.0.1 and is protected with a passcode, however it turns out I don’t need the passcode as it unlocks itself eventually as if by magic (major security flaw!). I haven’t unlocked it with the code for days but still have access to all functionality a short while after putting it back on. Does anyone know if this is fixed is WatchOS 2?

    • I might be barking up the wrong tree here but if you have your watch on your wrist, you either need to unlock it with the passcode or when you unlock your phone the watch automatically unlocks too?

      Could it be that?

      • 2is1toomany - 9 years ago

        That’s exactly what it is.

      • Dan Eaton - 9 years ago

        Well I now feel like an idiot (and probably look like an idiot) but I’m certainly relieved.

        Many thanks.

  10. Marcelo Cecin - 9 years ago

    my update stuck at 108MB

  11. So far I haven’t had problems with answering the phone using speakerphone and bluetooth like I had with Beta 2.

  12. PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

    Does iOS9 allow for download of large (100+ MB) iPhone app over cellular? I wanted an app that was 185MB yesterday, but couldn’t do so; it prompted me to connect over WiFi.

  13. Lex Yu - 9 years ago

    iOS 9 beta 3

    Issue 1: Cannot switch input method (language) via Bluetooth keyboard because cmd+space is now allocated for Spotlight, which has been used for language switching since 2010. For Mac, ctrl+space is to be allocated for Spotlight if more than 1 input method are up in system. iOS should follow the same trick.

    Issue 2: News.app keeps crashing. Don’t know how to reproduce. I just picked so many selections in the first screen.

  14. marook - 9 years ago

    Battery Usage: Now has an entry for ‘No Cell Coverage’, showing what % battery was used due to searching for coverage.. !

  15. marook - 9 years ago

    News.app: Not shown here in Denmark.
    Selectively hidden if not introduced in the country yet?
    I think this is a shame, why hide the service just because they haven’t accepted input from those countries yet? Do they think NYT only have subscribers from the US??

  16. Luís Araújo - 9 years ago

    thanks for shutting siri up..

  17. René Keulers - 9 years ago

    In iOS 9 beta 2 I was able to use the trackpad funtionality on my iPhone 6 plus. That seems to be removed in the new beta. Too bad, I already got used to it.

  18. fernandofppinto - 9 years ago

    Visit CrazyUDiD.com! Register your device and get access to the iOS 9’s brand new features!
    We are also giving away 2 Apple Watches and other prizes, don’t miss this opportunity!

  19. adustyhobo - 9 years ago

    Did they remove the option to move the cursor by using 2 fingers and dragging on the keyboard? I can’t do it anymore…

  20. Eric Donnie Jackson - 9 years ago

    is it just me or did they remove the phone icon?

  21. HF Quek - 9 years ago

    Can’t find the side switch setting in iPhone 6+.

  22. Marshall McCready - 9 years ago

    Is there a version of the News app on the desktop OS X?

  23. Deepak Mahtani - 9 years ago

    anyone else having issues connecting to eduroam (enterprise network) with iOS9 public beta?

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is the editor-in-chief of 9to5Mac, overseeing the entire site’s operations. He also hosts the 9to5Mac Daily and 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcasts.

You can send tips, questions, and typos to chance@9to5mac.com.

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