Apple iOS 7 Beta 5 Download Goes Live For iPhone & iPad Plus Apple TV Seed

Apple has released its iOS 7 beta 5 download for developers, updating those on the bleeding edge with their iPhones and iPads, as well as a new Apple TV seed. The fifth release, spotted by 9to5Mac, follows beta 4 at the tail-end of July and mostly comprises bugfixes as the new version of iOS gets ready for its public debut.

Previous versions of the iOS 7 beta release have included significant new features and tweaks; for instance, iOS 7 beta 4 brought with it changes to the way the lockscreen slide-to-unlock works as well as how notifications can be swiped between. Beta 3, meanwhile, improved the way Retina iPhone apps were displayed in doubling mode on non-Retina hardware like the iPad mini.

In this latest iteration, however, the changes are minimal. Most obvious to the user is likely to be the new settings page icons (the new UI is on the left) though the Twitter icon has also been changed.

For the Apple TV, meanwhile, a new seed for the set-top box now means that devices running iOS 7 can be used to it up. Previously, you'd need a pre-7 iPhone or iPad to do so, had you restored your Apple TV to the default settings. However, the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 aren't supported for that, so if you're using one of those and want the safety of being able to set up your Apple TV again, it might be worth skipping the beta for the moment.

Apple hasn't said exactly when the full version of iOS 7 will drop to regular users, but the new OS is widely expected to arrive alongside the new iPhone in a few months time. That's assumed to be the iPhone 5S, though it's also expected to bring along a cheaper, plastic-bodied version of the handset targeting entry-level price points, and tipped to be called the iPhone 5C.