Apple started testing iOS 14.6 before the big iOS 14.5 release even went out to the general public. With iOS 15 expected to begin testing at WWDC in June, many users thought iOS 14.5 would be the last release in the iOS 14 branch. It appears that Apple is not quite done iterating, and so we’ll get iOS 14.6 as well.
Update 05/17/21: The fourth and final developer beta release of iOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.6, and associated releases has arrived.
What’s new in iOS 14.6
Apple Music lossless and spatial audio
Apple Music’s new lossless, hi-resolution lossless, and Dolby Atmos features are coming in June, and will require iOS 14.6. You may not see these features as soon as you upgrade to iOS 14.6—these features require a server-side update, coming in June.
Apple Card Family
This version of iOS adds support for the Apple Card Family features announced in at the Spring Loaded event in April.
Podcast subscriptions
Apple’s Podcast Subscriptions feature, also announced at the Spring Loaded event in April, will come with iOS 14.6.
How to get the iOS 14.6 beta
If you’re feeling brave, you can try out iOS 14.6 before its general release. Apple suggests you do not run the beta on any critical device, and that’s good advice—you never know what can go wrong.
Developers can go head to developer.apple.com/download on the device upon which they which to run the beta, and download a developer beta profile. Those who aren’t developers can join the public beta by heading to beta.apple.com using the device upon which you wish to run the beta, signing in, and downloading the beta profile.
Once you have the profile you must enable it by going to Settings > General > Profile. Your device will reset to enable the profile. After it has reset with the profile enabled, you can head to Settings > General > Software Updates to download the latest beta release.
If you’re already on the release candidate version of iOS 14.5, you’ll see the 14.6 update listed under a new “Also Available” section in Software Updates. This allows you to either stay on the iOS 14.5 release candidate or jump on the new beta.
Release notes
The full release notes for iOS 14.6 are as follows:
Apple Card Family
- Apple Card can be shared with up to five people, including anyone 13 years or older in your Family Sharing group
- Apple Card Family adds support for families to track expenses, manage spending with optional limits and controls, and build credit together
Podcasts
- Subscription support for channels and individual shows
AirTag and Find My
- Lost mode option to add an email address instead of a phone number for AirTag and Find My network accessories
- AirTag will show the partially masked phone number of the owner when tapped with an NFC-capable device
Accessibility
- Voice Control users can unlock their iPhone for the first time after a restart using only their voice
This release also fixes the following issues:
- Unlock with Apple Watch may not work after using Lock iPhone on Apple Watch
- Reminders may appear as blank lines
- Call blocking extensions may not appear in Settings
- Bluetooth devices could sometimes disconnect or send audio to a different device during an active call
- iPhone may experience reduced performance during startup
