iOS 5.1 Beta Released to Developers; Xcode 4.3 Also Available

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Apple has just announced the release of the latest version of iOS for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Meant for developers to beta-test, the iOS 5.1 release still contains a few bugs. Apple has also released Xcode 4.3, meant for test iOS apps on desktop computers.

Apple has already seeded the beta release of iOS 5.1 to developers. Meant for current and some previous-generation iOS devices, the latest iOS release aims to address certain issues that have persisted even with Apple’s release of its iOS 5.0.1 update. As the release is still in beta, developers can expect a few bugs and issues that might result in instabilities, so this release is not meant for iPhone, iPad and iPod end-users. The iOS 5.1 beta is compatible with the following devices:

• iPhone: 4S, 4, 3GS
• iPad: 1 & 2
• iPod touch: 3rd & 4th generations

The iOS 5.1 beta release has the following issues:

• Accounts: Creation of an iCloud account will require any Apple ID as long as it is a full email address, and not simply a MobileMe name. MobileMe users can move their accounts to iCloud.
• APIs: P2P interfaces are not included by default. Users will need to use the Bonjour DNSService+ API to make this feature work. Other network-related services will require manually activating P2P services.
• Game Center: Icons and profile photos are not properly loading yet.
• iCloud Storage: Provisioning profiles must be enabled and re-generated. Also, sharing files between iOS and Mac OSX can be problematic since file names are case-sensitive in iOS, but not in Mac OSX.
• Movie Player: This no longer auto-plays upon opening of content.
• Music Player: Shake-to-shuffle causes the app to freeze.
• Newsstand: Issue has been fixed, in which deleting a magazine/subscription issue currently being read will cause a crash.
• Security: Certificate signing using MD5 is not supported yet.
• Xcode: Certain bugs will cause Xcode to crash, which can be fixed using a workaround involving automatic updates.

Apple says that the release is only intended for devices registered under the company’s developer program. But for other iPhone, iPod and iPad users out there, this means that iOS 5.1 is coming soon to compatible iDevices. Will iOS finally resolve the standing issues in iOS that even the recent iOS 5.0.1 release was unable to address?