iOS 17.5 Adds New 'Quartiles' Word Game for Apple News+ Subscribers - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

iOS 17.5 Adds New 'Quartiles' Word Game for Apple News+ Subscribers

While the first iOS 17.5 beta is slim on new features, there is one fun addition for Apple News+ subscribers: a daily word game called Quartiles.

iOS 17

Quartiles tasks you with combining tiles to form words and earn points. Each puzzle starts with a grid of 20 tiles, and words can be formed with one to four tiles. A quartile is a four-tile word, and if you find all five in each puzzle, you earn a 40-point bonus. The website Gadget Hacks shared a walkthrough of the game with more details.

Quartiles is the third puzzle game included with an Apple News+ subscription, alongside Crossword and Crossword Mini. Starting with the iOS 17.5 beta, all three games integrate with Game Center to display leaderboards.

On an iPhone updated to the iOS 17.5 beta, Quartiles can be found in the Apple News app under the Following tab → Puzzles. The game is also available on the iPad and Mac starting with the iPadOS 17.5 and macOS 14.5 betas.

Apple News+ is available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K., but the puzzle games seem to be limited to the U.S. and Canada for now.

iOS 17.5 will likely be released in May.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Popular Stories

iCloud iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Get Two New Perks on iOS 27

Thursday July 2, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
If you pay for certain iCloud+ storage plans beyond the 5GB that Apple offers for free, you will receive two more perks on iOS 27 at no additional cost. A summary of the two new iCloud+ perks on iOS 27:Increased daily usage limits for some new Apple Intelligence features, including image generation in the revamped Image Playground app. HomeKit Secure Video cameras receive generated video...
iPhone 4 on Black Feature

Apple Facing One of Its Worst Leaks Since the iPhone 4

Thursday July 2, 2026 9:53 am PDT by
Apple supplier Tata Electronics recently suffered a cyberattack that resulted in thousands of confidential files being published on the dark web, and this reportedly included some photos and documents related to the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro. We have elected not to share any of the leaked photos in this story due to the illegal nature in which they were obtained, but they can easily be found...
American Express Gold Apple Pay Feature

American Express Announces New Apple Pay Feature

Tuesday June 30, 2026 10:27 am PDT by
American Express today announced that you can now redeem Membership Rewards points when checking out with Apple Pay on the web and in apps on the iPhone and iPad. When checking out with Apple Pay on iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 or later, tap on your eligible American Express card (Platinum, Gold, Green, and others) and select the Membership Rewards points option. You can use points to cover all or...

Top Rated Comments

vegetassj4 Avatar
29 months ago
Similar to the original Wordle Code, a months worth of words is stored in an iCloud text file:

Here is tomorrow's puzzle



Attachment Image
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EightyEight Avatar
29 months ago
Courage and innovation. Awesome!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
29 months ago
Oh cool, I imagine they'll add more in the future to try to compete with NYT Games.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
29 months ago
I'm honestly baffled.
There are many boring and age-old bugs throughout the ecosystem and the development team spend their time playing "games" which among other things are already available for free with third party apps that are even better.

I don't get it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pappl Avatar
29 months ago
Apple News+ is available in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Seems a non-important app.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
29 months ago

I have AppleNews+ and am based in the UK but don't have a Puzzles tab and haven't been able to find the crosswords in the past. I know Quartiles comes with 17.5 but not found crosswords before either. Is this a US only feature?
Seems likely it’s another USA only feature.
Never had Puzzles either in UK.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)