Apple today released the first betas of the upcoming iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 updates to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test out the software manager when it officially launches. The public betas come a few days after Apple introduced the betas to developers.


Those who have signed up for Apple’s free beta testing program can enable the beta by opening the Settings app, going to General, selecting Software Update, tapping on Beta Updates, and selecting the iOS 16 Public Beta option.

iOS 16.6 appears to be a relatively minor update, though Apple appears to be laying the groundwork for launching the previously announced iMessage Contact Key Verification feature in this update.

Development is slowing down on ‌iOS 16‌ as Apple prepares to unveil iOS 17 in just two weeks at WWDC, and iOS 16.6 will likely be one of the last updates to ‌iOS 16‌ before the public release of ‌iOS 17‌ expected in September.

An initial public beta of watchOS 9.6 has also been released.

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