The release of iOS 16 is just a couple of weeks away, but Apple still has plans for iOS 15. Just days after iOS 15.5 arrived, Apple started iOS 15.6 iPadOS 15.6 beta testing. It was first made available to developers on May 18, with the public beta following a day later.
Most of the attention is now on iOS 16, which Apple announced at WWDC in June. With iOS 15.6, we don’t get any major new features. Instead, this appears to be a release primarily focused on bug fixes and security updates.
Update 7/12/22: The iOS 15.6 release candidate is now available to developers and public beta testers. The final release to the public is likely to come any time in the next week.
iOS 15.6 release notes
This release is really thin on new features, including primarily just bug fixes. Beyond what is shown in these release notes, it also includes some security updates.
- TV app adds the option to restart a live sports game already in progress and pause, rewind, or fast-forward
- Fixes an issue where Settings may continue to display that device storage is full even if it is available
- Fixes an issue that may cause braille devices to slow down or stop responding when navigating text in Mail
- Fixes an issue in Safari where a tab may revert to a previous page
How to get the iOS 15.6 beta
In order to download the iOS 15.6 beta, head over to beta.apple.com on the device upon which you wish to run the beta OS. Register for the beta, then download the profile.
After you’ve got the profile, head to Settings > General > VPN and Device Management to activate the profile, which requires restarting your iPhone or iPad. Once it has restarted and the profile is activated, go to General > Software Update to download and install the iOS/iPadOS 15.6 beta.
Registered developers can download the profile for the developer beta by visiting developer.apple.com/download on the device upon which they wish to install the beta.