Everything New in iOS 15.5 Beta 1: Apple Classical References, Apple Pay Cash Updates and More

Apple today seeded the first betas of iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 to developers after a three week long wait following the launch of iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4. The new updates aren’t as feature rich as the prior updates and focus primarily on under-the-hood changes, but there are still a few minor tweaks, which we’ve outlined below.

Apple Classical References

There are references to the upcoming “Apple Classical” app that Apple has in development to complement Apple Music, suggesting the standalone app could soon see a launch. There are “Open in Apple Classical” and “Open this in the new app designed for classical music” in the Music app code, but the Classical app has not yet launched.

Apple acquired classical music streaming service Primephonic back in August 2021 and said that it would be building a new classical music experience for ‌Apple Music‌. Apple is planning to launch a new standalone app dedicated to classical music, and the app will combine Primephonic’s user interface and specializations for classical music with ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ and features such as Lossless and Spatial Audio. Apple has not provided details on when the app might come out, but preparations are clearly being made.

Apple Pay Cash

In the Apple Pay Cash section of the Wallet app, there are now “Request” and “Send” buttons to make it easier to manage cash directly from Wallet.

Universal Control

According to Apple’s macOS release notes, Universal Control in the new iPadOS 15.5 and macOS Monterey 12.4 updates is not compatible with machines running macOS 12.3 or iPadOS 15.4, so Apple suggests that as a workaround, users should update their ‌Universal Control‌ devices to the new betas.

SportsKit Updates

Apple is continuing to build out its “SportsKit” support as it prepares to launch Friday Night Baseball, and there are TV app mentions for reporting scores for different baseball innings.

iTunes Pass Rebranding

Apple is apparently working to rebrand the “iTunes Pass” in Wallet, renaming it “Apple Balance.” References to Apple Balance were highlighted by 9to5Mac and have been confirmed by MacRumors.

There used to be an option to add an “iTunes Pass” to the Wallet app that features the money associated with your Apple ID. Apple appears to have removed the option to add an iTunes Pass in the United States, but it is still present in other countries. It’s possible a whole new Apple Balance option will be coming to the Wallet app in the future.

“Your account balance can be used to buy products, accessories, apps, games and more online or in store with ‌Apple Pay‌,” reads the code.

Other Features

Find another iOS 15.5 feature that we left out? Let us know in the comments.