Today, Apple is introducing iOS 13.6, iPadOS 13.6, macOS 10.15.6, watchOS 6.2.8, and tvOS 13.4.8 to everyone. They"ve been in testing since the beginning of June.
For a minor update that"s arriving while a major update is in beta, iOS 13.6 actually packs some new features. For one thing, it includes Apple"s new CarKey feature that lets you unlock a car with your phone, but more importantly, there are a bunch of Apple News improvements, which the firm announced today.
iOS 13.6, iPadOS 13.6, and macOS 10.15.6 will include audio stories for Apple News+. Starting today, Apple says that it"s going to release roughly 20 audio stories every week from outlets like Esquire, Essence, Fast Company, GQ, New York magazine, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Note that this is exclusive to the paid Apple News+ subscription service.
What"s not exclusive to Apple News+ is Apple News Today, which is more or less a news show. It"s an audio briefing that includes Shumita Basu and Duerte Geraldino that covers "fascinating stories in the news". Apple News Today is free for everyone, and it"s available in the News app. The Cupertino firm also noted that it"s lighting up the News app for CarPlay, so you can listen to all of this content while you"re driving.
There"s also a big focus on local news, even if it"s not available in a wide array of locales. For now, this is supported in the Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. The new curated local news will include local publishers, major newspapers, sports, dining, weather, and so on. If you"re not in one of the above areas, you can still get local newspapers like The Charlotte Observer, the Idaho Statesman, The Kansas City Star, the Miami Herald, The News & Observer, and The State.
These updates are available now to everyone. Note that if your iPhone doesn"t support iOS 13, Apple did release iOS 12.4.8 today, although it doesn"t include the new features.