Apple today seeded the fifth betas of upcoming iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming two weeks after the release of the fourth betas.

Registered developers can opt in to the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to Software Update, tapping on the “Beta Updates” option and toggling on the iOS 16 Developer Beta. Note that an Apple ID associated with a developer account is required to download and install the beta.

iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 may lay the groundwork for iMessage Contact Key Verification. The feature is meant to let Apple device owners verify that they are messaging with the people they intend to message rather than a malicious entity that has intercepted a message or is eavesdropping on a conversation.

In the first beta, hints of iMessage Contact Key were available, but the option was not fully enabled and the references have since been removed, so it remains unclear if this is something we can expect to see in iOS 16.6.

Source: Macrumors