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Apple's iOS 10.3 beta hits with cricket scores, 'Find My AirPods'

And the MacOS Sierra 10.12.4 developer beta brings Night Shift to Macs to change the displays to a warmer color.

Shara Tibken Former managing editor
Shara Tibken was a managing editor at CNET News, overseeing a team covering tech policy, EU tech, mobile and the digital divide. She previously covered mobile as a senior reporter at CNET and also wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. Shara is a native Midwesterner who still prefers "pop" over "soda."
Shara Tibken
3 min read
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You'll no longer have to fumble around to find your missing AirPods .

Apple's latest iOS 10 beta update, 10.3, lets you locate your new Apple wireless headphones using the "Find My iPhone" app, undoubtedly making a few of you feel very relieved. The app can play a sound on one or both AirPods to help you find them.

There are some caveats, though. They still rely on your iPhone or iPad's location and Bluetooth to show where you last had them. Find My iPhone locates the headphones to within Bluetooth range of any of your iOS devices that are signed into iCloud. If your AirPods are near those devices, the device's location will be used to show you where to start looking.

If your AirPods aren't within Bluetooth range of any of your iOS devices, needs to be recharged or are in the closed AirPod case, Find My iPhone will show where they were located when last connected to your iOS device.

Other features in the new iOS 10.3 update -- available to beta users Tuesday and everyone else later -- include being able to ask Siri for cricket scores and stats for the Indian Premier League and International Cricket Council. A sample question you can ask is "Who took the most wickets last year in IPL?" (We'll see if Siri can actually explain what cricket is to those of us who don't understand the game. For instance, what's a wicket?)

Apple AirPods are nowhere near as ridiculous as they look

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Third-party payment app developers will be able to integrate Siri to pay and check the status of bills, while ride-booking apps will be able to call on Siri to schedule a ride. Apple's CarPlay feature for auto adds shortcuts to launch the last two used apps, while Maps now displays EV charging stations. 3D Touch on the weather icon in Maps brings you hourly forecasts, chance of rain and daily high and low temperatures.

Tapping on the iMessage app icon now displays iMessage apps, while HomeKit adds support for programmable switch accessories.


Missing from the iOS 10.3 beta, though, is the rumored "theater mode" that would dim your phone when you're at the movies. When that rumor popped up, it faced a lot of backlash from people who feared even more fellow theater-goers would text during films.

Apple updates its mobile device and Mac software on a regular basis, adding new features and bug fixes for users. In recent years, it's also let the general public download beta versions of its software, testing out new features before they're released to all Apple device users. Currently 76 percent of iOS users have iOS 10, the version of Apple's software introduced in September. By comparison, less than 1 percent of Android users have Google's newest version of the software.

MacOs 10.12.4 developer beta 1 brings Night Shift to Macs, letting you change your display color to warmer tones at night. The featured first arrived on Apple devices a year ago on the iPhone with iOS 9.3.

Shanghainese dictation support will let your Macs convert words spoken in the Asian language to text. You won't be able to use spoken commands to perform tasks in that language, though.

Siri cricket stats will also come to the Mac, though they may not arrive with the first beta.

Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar 15-inch 2016 gives your fingers room to roam

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Update, 10:30 a.m. PT: Adds additional AirPod details.

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