Apple’s latest update for developers; iOS 11.3 Beta 1 is available to download with plenty of new features and tweaks. While it’s still the first of many betas to come before it’s official release this Spring, check out our latest video to see all of the latest changes in action.

Beta changes

Here’s a list of the changes we’ve found in the new beta:

• iBooks has been renamed to Books. Within the app ‘All books’ has been changed to ‘Library’ and ‘Select’ has changed to ‘Edit’
• Privacy icon within settings now blue instead of gray.
• A new Privacy icon will appear when an Apple app or feature is asking to use personal information.
• Quicker App Switcher animation on iPhone X.
• Messages on iCloud; free up space on iOS devices by storing all messages and attachments in the cloud. Deleted messages and converstations will delete from all devices.
• X4 new Animoji characters for iPhone X users, including; a lion, a dragon, a skull and a bear.
• Reports of the bluetooth icon within the control centre disappearing, although on our beta it’s still visable.
• Updated Apple News App with personalised stories picked by Siri, updated Spotlight and search for particular stories.
• Business Chat – connecting customers and businesses through messages.
• Health records added to the Health app.
• Reported speed increase on older iOS devices, meaning Apple has removed the speed throttling.

Speed control

One feature a lot of people are waiting to see in iOS is the ability to turn off the speed throttling of their older iPhones. Unfortunately it’s not in this beta just yet, although it will be coming in a future update along with the ability to check the health of the battery. In beta 1 though at least Apple has turned off the throttling for now, so a lot of iPhone 6 users will be seeing their phones responding faster, if not with a shorter battery life.

The update is slated to be released to the public this spring, but there will be plenty of betas before then, so make sure to subscribe to the Cult of Mac YouTube channel to stay up to date with the latest videos.