For a company that prides itself on being mum about upcoming commitments, Apple has been open with its user-oriented beta program for its newest iOS 8.3. The Cupertino-based company released the beta build for eager iOS testers together with an iOS 8.3 beta for developers.
Now, after a host of bug fixes and add-ons, including the new emoji skin tone modifiers for the second build, a new beta build for the iOS 8.3 is now available.
Most of the fixes on the new iOS 8.3 beta 4 also rotates around emojis. On the new build, testers can now separate the default, original emojis from the skin modified ones by holding them down on the keyboard. Apple also brought back "Recently Added" on the emoji keyboard, so that users will have a quick and easier time in selecting emojis that they constantly use. There are also minor tweaks on the emojis themselves: those with yellow skin tone now have matching blond or gold hair colors.
Aside from the emojis, the new iOS 8.3 beta 4 build now has an iMessage filter, able to separate messages sent from unknown numbers. It also removes the beta label from the iCloud Photo library.
In terms of connectivity, the new fourth beta build fixed known bugs in the support of a wireless version of CarPlay and Google's 2-step verification. It also addresses compatibility issues between the operating system's Apple Pay and the China UnionPay network.
In addition, Apple's proprietary assistant Siri also gets expanded voice commands, including queries to initiate calls over the speakerphone and skipping passwords during free app downloads.
Some of the beta testers might be confused with the newest build, and may say that this is just the second one. This will be true for those who are using the Apple Seed program, where the newest build will show up on the Software Update window. However, this is already the fourth build for the developers to tweak and provide feedback on.
