All articles tagged with #beta
Sony is beta-testing a redesigned PS5 home menu with a top ribbon navigable by L1/R1 to switch between Games, Library, Media Apps, PS Plus, and the PS Store, shifting emphasis toward games and trimming clutter; rollout date for all users is not yet announced.
A November 2007 GTA IV beta build leaked from a Rockstar North Xbox 360 dev kit reveals features that didn’t make the final game, including working ferries, zombie minigame assets, radio station and dialogue tweaks, and other minor changes to vehicles and NPCs, with the leak still being explored by fans.
Apple’s iOS 26.5 beta 1 introduces groundwork for ads in Maps with a new Suggested Places feature, re-enables end-to-end encryption for RCS messages between iPhone and Android, rolls out EU interoperability features for third‑party wearables (proximity pairing, notifications, and Live Activities), enables Magic Accessories to pair over USB‑C via Bluetooth, adds an iPhone‑to‑Android transfer option for selecting which attachments to migrate, and notes mentions of Apple Books awards plus an Inuktitut keyboard layout.
Apple's iOS 26.4 Beta 4 introduces CarPlay privacy enhancements and UI polish, expands the emoji library, upgrades accessibility options, and boosts Apple Music and Measurement app features, with typical beta performance caveats.
Apple's fourth iOS 26.4 beta adds nine new emoji from Unicode 17, including trombone, treasure chest, Bigfoot, orca, landslide, a fight icon, plus new skin-tone variants and a gender-neutral ballet dancer; updates typically roll out in spring, with potential emoji additions teased for iOS 27.
Apple's iOS 26.4 Beta 4 adds new emoji characters (including trombone, treasure chest, distorted face, hairy creature, fight cloud, orca, landslide) with new skin-tone options, renames the accessibility setting from Reduce Highlighting Effects to Reduce Bright Effects to clarify UI highlighting behavior, and drops the RCS end-to-end encryption beta (with full RCS encryption to be introduced in a future update). This beta also adds support for the new iPhone 17e and M4 iPad Air. For more features, see the iOS 26.4 feature guide.
Apple's fourth developer beta of macOS Tahoe 26.4 brings MacBook Neo wallpapers to all Macs (Purple, Blue, Pink, Yellow) and adds new emoji; they can be enabled via System Settings > Wallpaper. A public beta is coming soon, with a spring launch expected.
Google is testing a beta feature in Google Messages called Tap to Draft, which lets you edit a Smart Reply in the text field before sending instead of sending it immediately. You can enable it by going to Profile > Messages > Suggestions and switching the Smart Reply option from Tap to Send to Tap to Draft, with the setting remaining once you exit the app.
iOS 26.4 is in its second beta with a public rollout expected by March 30, 2026. It adds notable updates across core apps (Phone adds missed-call location; Shortcuts gets a flip-phone glyph; Music allows dynamic playlist covers and SharePlay QR sharing; Podcasts adds a sleep-timer glyph and better video podcast support; TV app expands subtitle customization) and introduces a region-specific age verification for the UK. Performance improves with benchmark scores of single-core 3,783 and multi-core 9,846, but there is a small dip in batttery life. Apple will continue weekly betas toward the final release, setting the stage for iOS 27 at WWDC in June. Upgrading offers new features and speed, but users prioritizing stability may prefer waiting for the final release due to the battery trade-off.
Marathon Server Slam’s beta drew a large early audience, peaking at 143,621 concurrent players on Steam, while Xbox Store reviews sit around 2.7/5 from ~400 ratings. Critics are mixed but intrigued: Push Square praises potential endgame depth, Kotaku flags clunky controls and a steep learning curve, Indy100 commends the PvPvE focus, and Forbes remains cautiously mixed. It’s very early days, with impressions likely to evolve as players weigh loot risk, UI, and pacing in this beta window. People are encouraged to try the Xbox Store beta page this weekend and share their thoughts in the poll.
Bungie’s new extraction shooter Marathon is launching a Server Slam beta with a defined start-time and a rewards track, and the piece explains how to participate and what to expect during the beta.
Sony is emailing invites for February 2026 PS5 system software beta, but the beta codes don’t work yet; patch notes confirm Unicode 17.0 emoji support and minor improvements in messages and usability, with no major changes and more information expected.
Apple's iOS 26.4 beta adds end-to-end encrypted RCS testing, but it's in a beta phase and not shipping yet; it currently works only between Apple devices and will roll out to other platforms in a future update, with cross-platform encryption coming later.
Google has released Android 17 Beta 1 for Pixel devices, focusing on testing system and API changes with no major user-facing changes yet. Highlights include expanded adaptive-apps support that requires resizing and windowed multitasking, smoother camera sensor switching, and enhanced media encoding with Versatile Video Coding (VVC). Beta 2 is planned for March, with a final update later in 2026; supported devices include Pixel 6–10, Pixel Tablet, and the original Pixel Fold, and OTA enrollment is via Google's beta program.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Siri 2.0 will debut in the iOS 26.4 developer beta on Feb. 23, bringing deeper integration with Messages, Calendar and Photos and context-aware queries. However, chatbot-style features aren’t expected until the next full iPhone update (iOS 27). A stable release is anticipated later, likely by late March or April, with developers first getting access to the new features.