iOS 7.1 Beta 4 Release Date: Update by Apple Inc. (AAPL) Available for Developers, Includes Messages and Safari Improvements

Apple Inc. has rolled out iOS 7.1 beta 4 to developers to download for the iPad, iPad mini, iPhone, and iPod touch devices.

The fourth beta update for iOS 7.1 comes after Apple initially provided the latest beta version to its testing partners.

According to the change log and release notes for the latest iOS 7.1 build 11D5134c, a fix has been included for Messages, which no longer indicates a send failure after the text is delivered.

For Safari, "A property, minimal-ui, has been added for the viewport meta tag key that allows minimizing the top and bottom bars on the iPhone as the page loads. While on a page using minimal-ui, tapping the top bar brings the bars back. Tapping back in the content dismisses them again," notes the change log. 

For the user interface, three notable issues were focused, according to BGR.

The first is the "Bar button background images are ignored in apps built and deployed to iOS 7.1 when they are set using UIBarButtonItem setBackgroundImage:forState:style:barMetrics: with UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered as the style argument.Workaround: Use UIBarButtonItemStylePlain or UIBarButtonItemStyleAny in this case, or use UIBarButtonItem setBackgroundImage:forState:barMetrics:"

Second, "If a UITextField or a UILabel that is baseline aligned with constraints has attributes that change after the constraints have been added, the layout may be incorrect. The exception to this is -setFont: on UILabel, which should work as expected.Workaround: Avoid making changes in UITextField or UILabel after adding baseline-alignment constraints. If you must make changes, you should remove the constraints and then reapply them afterward. Note that this is a performance hit, so don't do it unless it is necessary."

Finally, "The backIndicatorTransitionMaskImage from a storyboard or a xib will not be interpreted correctly at runtime. Workaround: Set the backIndicatorTransitionMaskImage in code."

Developers can receive the latest iOS 7.1 beta 4 build via an over-the-air installation or can manually download by tapping "Settings."

It is unknown when Apple plans to released iOS 7.1 to the general public.

Apple launched iOS 7 on Sept. 18, 2013, two days before the release of the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s.

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