Following WWDC at the beginning of June attention has now turned to iOS 15, but despite that Apple's still busy working on iOS 14.7.
Work on the iOS 14.7 beta began towards the end of May with Apple releasing the first public beta of iOS 14.7 on 20 May 2021. A third beta version of iOS 14.7 arrived on Monday 14 June.
The beta hasn't shown up many new features (the few that have appeared are discussed below). It is hoped that it will fix a battery drain issue with iOS 14.6.
The interesting thing is that when version 7 arrives iOS 14 will have had the most point releases of any iOS version. (There were also seven versions of iOS 13 but the seventh update was in September 2020 to add COVID contact tracing, so it wasn't really a typical point update).
iOS 14.7 release date
iOS 14.6 arrived at the end of May after around a month of beta development. The iOS 14.7 update probably won't be particularly feature heavy as Apple will now be focussing on the beta of iOS 15, read about what's coming in iOS 15 here: Complete guide to iOS 15's new iPhone features.
What's in iOS 14.7?
Not much is known about the new features in iOS 14.7. However, we are aware of the following additions:
Multiple timers on HomePod
The beta includes the ability to set several timers on the HomePod - not only via Siri on the HomePod, which you can already do, but also via the Home app on the iPhone. Via 9to5Mac.
Air quality information
When iOS 14.7 arrives it will bring air quality information to the Weather app for countries including France, Italy, Spain, Canada and the Netherlands. Other countries, including the UK, USA, India, and Germany, have had this information available since iOS 14 arrived in September. Via 9to5Mac.
Battery drain issue fix
Apple will surely address the issues with battery drain in iOS 14.6 and iOS 14.5.1 (although a fix might arrive in iOS 14.6.1).
When it was released in May iOS 14.5.1 introduced battery drain issues to some users.
Then iOS 14.6 bought even wider battery drain and overheating issues, with some users reporting that their batteries deplete rapidly in just a few minutes. More here: iOS 14.6 causing battery drain and overheating problems.
We have an article offering advice on How to save battery on iPhone.
How to get the iOS 14.7 beta
One of the best things about Apple's beta program (read: How to become an Apple beta tester) is that it gives us an insight into the new features and change that are coming to iPhones. But you should beware that beta versions usually contain a lot of bugs, so the installation is at your own risk.
If you are interested in participating in testing the new updates, you can go to the Apple Beta Software Program and enter your details.
Apple also runs beta programs for iPadOS, tvOS, WatchOS, and macOS.
For more information read: How to join Apple's beta program and try out new software. Also read: How to get the iOS beta.
