Apple releases iOS 11.3 Beta 3 for developers

Today, one day after its release of iOS 11.2.6, Apple has pushed out iOS 11.3 beta 3 to developers. The former was quickly disseminated by Apple to fix a bug that crashed certain iPhone models after a specific Indian character was sent via iMessage, or via social media. The update sent today includes the battery health meter that will tell users how weak the cell is inside their older iPhone unit, and whether it needs to be replaced.

Apple started throttling the CPU on older models since weak batteries inside these handsets were causing them to shut down when trying to handle complex tasks. Apple has now given owners of these older models the ability to disable the CPU throttling. With the battery meter, these same iPhone owners will be able to make an educated decision on whether they need to take Apple up on its limited time offer to replace the batteries on these units for $29. The deal, which ends on New Year's Eve 2018, takes $50 off the cost of buying a new iPhone cell.

The public version of iOS 11.3 should be released sometime this week. The final version of the build is expected to be ready this spring, and will feature four new Animoji for the iPhone X (dragon, bear, skull, and lion), Messages for iCloud allowing iMessages to be stored in iCloud, and ARKit 1.5, which will allow developers of AR apps to map irregular shapes. Other changes include the removal of the "i" in iBooks making it Books, and the App Store will start to divide reviews by the following categories: most helpful, most favorable, most critical, and most recent. This should make it easier for iPhone users to find apps to handle certain needs.

source: AppleInsider