Apple Releases iOS 10.2 With New TV App, New Emoji, and More

Apple today released iOS 10.2 to the public, marking the launch of the second major update to the iOS 10 operating system since it launched on September 13. iOS 10.2 has been in testing since October 31, with seven betas seeded to developers and public beta testers.

The iOS 10.2 update is available as a free-over-the-air update for all iOS 10 users, and it can also be downloaded via iTunes.

As a major 10.x update, iOS 10.2 introduces new features and design tweaks to iOS 10. It includes a new "TV" app, which is designed to serve as an Apple-designed TV guide that aims to simplfy the television-watching experience and help users discover new TV shows and movies to watch.

Along with the TV app, Apple recently debuted the long-awaited Single Sign-On feature, allowing cable subscribers to sign in once with their cable credentials to access all live cable content available within various apps. Single Sign-On is currently available for CenturyLink Prism, DirecTV, Dish, GVTC, GTA, Hawaiian Telcom, Hotwire, Metrocast, Service Electric, and Sling TV. Both Single Sign-On and the TV app are available across multiple devices, including the Apple TV.

A range of new emoji are included in the update, like clown face, face palm, selfie, fox face, owl, bacon, avocado, croissant, and more. There are more than a hundred new emoji, including several profession emoji available in both male and female genders. Apple has also redesigned many existing emoji, adding more detail to make them look more realistic.

iOS 10.2 also includes new wallpaper, revamped sorting options and some design tweaks to the Repeat and Shuffle buttons in the Music app, new "Celebrate" and "Send With Love" Screen Effects, an option for preserving camera settings, a new "Saved" stories section in News, a TV widget, and new TV settings.

Multiple Photos improvements have been included, such as improved stabilization and faster frame rates for Live Photos. The accuracy of groupings of similar photos of the same person has been improved in the People album, and an issue causing Photos to generate memories using screenshots, whiteboards, or receipts has been fixed.

To see all of the changes that were introduced throughout the beta testing period, make sure to check out our beta videos: Beta 1, Beta 2, Beta 3. For more information on iOS 10, visit our iOS 10 roundup or read the full release notes below:

iOS 10.2 introduces new features including the TV app (US Only), a new and unified experience for accessing your TV shows and movies across multiple video apps. Emoji have been beautifully redesigned to reveal even more detail and over 100 new emoji have been added including new faces, food, animals, sports, and professions. This update also includes stability improvements and bug fixes.

TV
- Use Up Next to see the movies and shows you're currently watching and pick up where you left off
- Get recommendations for new movies and TV shows in Watch Now
- Discover new apps and the latest iTunes releases in the Store
- Access the Library for your iTunes purchases and rentals

Emoji
- Beautifully redesigned emoji that reveal even more detail
- Over 100 new emoji including new faces, food, animals, sports, and professions

Photos
- Improves stabilization and delivers faster frame rate for Live Photos
- Improves accuracy of groupings of similar photos of the same person in the People album
- Fixes an issue where Memories might generate a memory from photos of screenshots, whiteboards or receipts
- Fixes an issue where the camera would stay zoomed in after switching back from the Camera Roll on iPhone 7 Plus
- Additional support for RAW digital cameras

Messages
- Adds new love and celebration full screen effects in Messages
- Fixes an issue that sometimes prevented the keyboard from displaying in Messages

Music
- Swipe up the Now Playing screen to more easily access Shuffle, Repeat and Up Next
- Choose how to sort Playlists, Albums, and Songs in Library

News
- Stories you've saved for later now appear the new Saved section
- The best paid stories from channels you subscribe to will now appear in a dedicated section in For You
- It's now easier than ever to get to the next story, just swipe left or tap Next Story while reading

Mail
- Fixes an issue that caused the Move sheet to persist after filing a Mail message
- Addresses an issue with long press activating copy and paste in Mail
- Fixes an issue in which the wrong message would be selected after deleting a Mail conversation

Accessibility
Adds BraillePen14 support to VoiceOver
- Fixes an issue where the braille table could switch unexpectedly with VoiceOver
- Fixes an issue where sometimes Siri enhanced voices were unavailable to VoiceOver
- Fixes an issue where VoiceOver users could not re-order items in lists
- Fixes an issue where Switch Control was sometimes unable to delete Voicemails

Other improvements and fixes
- Adds notification support for HomeKit accessories including window coverings, occupancy, motion, door/window, smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leak sensors
- Adds notification support for HomeKit accessories when software updates are available to HomeKit accessories
- Improves Bluetooth performance and connectivity with 3rd party accessories
- Fixes an issue that could cause FaceTime participants to appear out of focus
- Fixes an issue that could cause FaceTime calls to appear with incorrect aspect ratio and orientation
- Fixes an issue that prevented some Visual Voicemail from completing playback
- Fixes a Safari Reader issue that could cause articles to open as empty pages
- Fixes an issue that could cause Safari to quit unexpectedly after marking an item as read in Reading List