Apple Releases Second iOS 10.2 Beta for Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 10.2 update to public beta testers for testing purposes, just one over one week after releasing the first iOS 10.2 public beta, and one day after providing the second iOS 10.2 beta to developers.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 10.2 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.

Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and macOS Sierra betas. Betas are not stable and include many bugs, so they should be installed on a secondary device.


iOS 10.2, as a major 10.x update, includes several new features to enhance the iOS 10 operating system. New emoji are included, introducing Unicode 9 characters like clown face, drooling face, selfie, face palm, fox face, owl, shark, butterfly, avocado, pancakes, croissant, and more, plus many profession emoji available in both male and female genders.

Apple has also updated the artwork on most existing emoji, adding detail to make them look less cartoonish and more realistic.

In addition to new emoji, the iOS 10.2 update includes new wallpaper, new Music sorting options, a new "Celebrate" Screen Effect," an option for preserving camera settings, a Videos widget, Single Sign-On support, an SOS feature for quickly calling emergency services, a new TV app to help users discover television content to watch, and more.

Related Forum: iOS 10

Popular Stories

apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
New Intel Logo

Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips Again in a New Way

Friday November 28, 2025 7:33 am PST by
While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027. Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
iphone air camera

iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Thursday November 27, 2025 3:14 am PST by
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia. Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production. Apple supplier Foxconn has...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Black Friday iPhone Deals Still Available

Friday November 28, 2025 6:24 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...

Top Rated Comments

SMIDG3T Avatar
118 months ago
PLEASE READ - EMOJIS

We all like to rant, that's fine, but all this business about Apple adding new Emojis and not focusing on anything else (which is false anyway) is just stupid. I'd just like to put it out there as a lot of people don't understand.

Unicode are behind Emoji, not Apple. Apple are simply updating the Emoji to keep up with what's out there. Apple do the artwork and they obviously have a very high standard.

Stop complaining about Apple and their addiction to Emoji. There's no addiction, they're simply keeping up with the standard.
[doublepost=1478635481][/doublepost]
One annoying tidbit in 10.2, Apple is pushing Live Photos way too hard and it's getting obnoxious that it's turned on by default every time you launch the camera app. Once this update is pushed out to everyone I know there's going to be a lot of complaints about this.

Luckily you can turn that off in the camera settings (Photos & Camera > Preserve Settings > Live Photo). Nobody I know with an iPhone ever uses or takes live photos. o_O
The reason it's on by default is because they've doubled the frame rate and they're obviously really happy with it. I hate to state the obvious but it's a photo and the fact that it's really smooth now (and looks like a mini video) is impressive.

But the setting is there for those who don't want it enabled by default.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C DM Avatar
118 months ago
Just an emoji update for us in the UK then...
Along with all the other things that are in iOS 10.2:

https://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/31/whats-new-in-ios-10-2-beta-1/

https://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/07/whats-new-in-ios-10-2-beta-2/
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bacillus Avatar
118 months ago
Hail Emoji
The 1 feature that works across all iDevices. Unrestricted, transparently, across all dongles.
Our Apple VP's LOVE it !!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrumApple Avatar
118 months ago
They focus on making emoji's prettier when their Mail app completely blows and is unusable. This is a device for children.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BSben Avatar
118 months ago
Just an emoji update for us in the UK then...
Just get a life, emojis have been updated, but more importantly the operating system is getting better. The UK version of iOS should have 25% of features removed to reflect the massive drop of the pound.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C DM Avatar
118 months ago
oh good. More emojis.... Innovation where it counts. :rolleyes:
And let's ignore everything else as usual and weirdly focus on one of the smaller things that was updated. Quite the logic there.
[doublepost=1478630914][/doublepost]
They focus on making emoji's prettier when their Mail app completely blows and is unusable. This is a device for children.
Is that why plenty of people use it just fine?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)