Apple releases the first public beta for iOS 11.4; AirPlay 2 returns

A few days ago, Apple rolled out iOS 11.3, which includes the new battery health tool allowing users to see how strong or weak their iPhone battery is. The new iOS build also allows iPhone owners to prevent Apple from throttling the speed of the CPU on their phones. The company was doing this to prevent units with weak batteries from shutting down when faced with a complex task. Yesterday, Apple released the first Developer beta for iOS 11.4, and followed that up today with the release of the first public beta for iOS 11.4.

Apple brings back AirPlay 2 with the first iOS 11.4 public beta after removing it in the previous version of the operating system. With AirPlay 2, users can stream audio from an iPhone or iPad to multiple devices. This will allow consumers to stream the same song, at the same time, to two separate HomePods placed in two different rooms in the same house. Also included in the iOS 11.4 public beta is ClassKit. Part of Apple's new initiative on education, this feature works with a new iPad app called Schoolwork. It helps teachers and students keep track of assignments, while giving teachers a private platform from which they can send out individual reports to each student. And Messages on iCloud allows for the storage of chats and attachments online. This will help those moving to a new iOS device move over their previous iMessage conversations.

This could very well be the last build of iOS 11 that we see. Apple will hold its annual WWDC developer conference starting on June 4th and iOS 12 should be unveiled during the event. WWDC 2018 will run from June 4th through June 8th at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.

Because beta versions of iOS are not final versions of the operating system and could contain bugs, we wouldn't recommend it on your daily driver. If you're willing to take that risk, or want to install it on an older (but still compatible) iPhone, simply click on this link.