Apple seeds fifth beta of iOS 7 to developers with new Control Center options

Apple on Tuesday provided its development community with the fifth pre-release beta of iOS 7 for iPhone and iPad, providing the latest bug fixes and improvements for testing, as well as a new setting that allows users to disable access to Control Center from within apps.

iOS 7 beta 5 can now be downloaded via Software Update on developers' test devices, or via the iOS Dev Center online portal. As always, Apple advises that the software "should only be deployed on devices dedicated for iOS 7 beta software development."

Beta 5 adds tweaks to the native Settings application in iOS 7, including new colorful icons for individual features such as Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Cellular. A dedicated Control Center settings page also gives users the ability to disable access from within apps, or on the lock screen.

As noticed by Twitter user Kevin Klinkmuller, iOS 7 beta 5 also adds a new white install screen for users who have a white iPhone, while the screen is black when setting up a black Apple handset.

Bugs do reportedly remain in the fifth beta, as people familiar with the software indicated that password fields are not displayed in landscape mode for In-App Purchases or Game Center. Text entry still works, Apple has advised developers, but what is being typed cannot be seen.

Apple also informed developers that application downloads can become stuck in a "waiting" state in beta 5. Testers can work around this issue by rebooting their device once or twice.

Along with iOS 7, a new Apple TV software beta was also provided to developers on Tuesday.

The release of the software comes just over a week after Apple made iOS 7 beta 4 available. That fourth beta was expected to debut a week earlier, but is believed to have been delayed by a prolonged outage of the Dev Center website after it was breached by a hacker.

Prior to that delay, new builds of iOS 7 betas arrived every two weeks, on Mondays.

It's expected that iOS 7 will release to the public in September, when Apple is rumored to launch both a next-generation "iPhone 5S," as well as a new low-cost iPhone with a plastic back. Apple has simply said that the software will debut this fall.

For more on the extensive changes in iOS 7, including a new fresh look and numerous features, see AppleInsider's series entitled Inside iOS 7.