iOS 15.5 could improve an iPhone app you use every day

While iOS 15.4 is still fairly new, we're already looking at iOS 15.5 as the first beta of Apple's upcoming iPhone OS update started rolling out to developers, and we can use it to see what features are on the way.

It looks like the Apple Wallet app, which many iPhone users open daily for contactless payments and other transactions, could get the most updates.

As reported by MacRumors (opens in a new tab), there are already big "Payer" and "Demand" buttons under your card right in front of the app - and Einstein doesn't have to understand what they do. As with many banking apps, these allow you to easily transfer money or request it from a friend, which should save you valuable seconds compared to the old payment method.

9to5Mac(Opens in a new tab) also spotted a small change: iTunes Pass, essentially a gift code account for spending money in the App Store and a few other Apple places, was renamed "Apple Account."

Sure, it's a pretty bland name, but considering iTunes on the Mac was shut down in 2019 (to make way for Apple's billion other apps), it's no surprise the name is being dropped in places where it's still used.

Also some references

MacRumors also says that some upcoming Apple services were mentioned in the iOS 15.5 code.

The first of these is SportsKit: Apple has already confirmed that it plans to stream baseball games every Friday night… at some point. iOS 15.5 apparently includes code that could be used to report live scores.

Second, it looks like Apple Classical, the brand's classical music streaming service, could be about to launch; there are also some references in the code.

Admittedly, none of these changes are huge (aside from Apple Wallet, which could be really useful for some people), and we can't say for sure that these features are coming, as a beta only confirms that they're "should happen" unless there are any major issues. But that's to be expected from the .5 update spin-off - all the good features of iOS 15 have been implemented with the previous iterations.

Fortunately, iOS 16 shouldn't be too far away, as Apple has already confirmed the dates for WWDC 2022 when it will show off its new iPhone operating system. So join us on June 6 for the keynote conference where we'll be looking at more important Apple software updates.