Apple Releases iOS 8.4 Beta 3, Redesigned Music App, iBooks Author Textbooks

By Kamal Nayan - 12 May '15 01:17AM

Apple recently sent out a third beta version of its upcoming iOS 8.4 update that includes a major redesign of iOS's Music application. The new update also brings textbooks developed using the iBooks Author tool to the iPhone for the first time.

The new Music app will be used to relaunch Beats Music as competitor to Spotify and Jay-Z's Tidal music service.

The new Music app has gotten a more prominent "Now Playing" screen and toggles for showing music offline. It has equips an updated music search history that includes searches within the app.

The iOS 8.4 Beta 3 is being sent out to developers wirelessly but can also be downloaded manually. The update is compatible with the iPhone 4S and newer, the iPad Air 2 and newer and the iPod 5G.

iBook Author Textbooks On iPhone For The First Time

iBook Author was launched in 2012 as part of Apple's Education initiatives. It allows schools and teachers to create dynamic digital textbooks that can play videos, connect to the Internet, embed study cards.

These digital textbooks were exclusive to the iPad until the Mac gained an iBooks application and iBookstore in fall 2013 with OS X Mavericks. In iOS 8.4, these textbooks run in their digital forms with videos, the glossary, highlighting, and notes on both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, 9to5Mac noted.