Apple today seeded the first public betas of upcoming iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 updates to its public beta testing group, a few days after seeding the first betas to developers and a little less than a week after releasing the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates.
Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS and iPadOS 14.2 updates over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website on an iOS device.
iOS 14.2 introduces a new Music Recognition control for the Control Center, deepening the integration of the Apple-owned Shazam app in the iOS operating system. Music Recognition lets you discover music playing around you and it can recognize music playing in apps even when you're wearing AirPods.
The Shazam Music Recognition feature can be added to Control Center through the Control Center options in the Settings app. To use the feature, open up Control Center and then tap on the Shazam icon to initiate a single recognition.
The new update brings a redesigned Now Playing widget for the Control Center that lists recently played albums that you might want to listen to when you have no music playing. There's also a redesigned interface for AirPlay, making it easier to play music across multiple AirPlay 2-enabled devices in the home.
For those who have low vision, Apple added a "People Detection" feature in the Magnifier app that uses the camera to let iPhone users know how far away other people are, which can be useful for social distancing purposes.
The new iOS 14.2 beta will likely be in testing for some time as Apple works on releasing new iPhones, with the new iPhones expected to debut sometime in October.
Control center is so frustrating. We need more control of how we want to lay it out. Like Home Kit constantly changes where the buttons are trying to guess what you're going to turn on. I just want it to be in exactly the same spot, so it becomes a habit! Looking for it every time is frustrating.
Be careful. Developer Beta wiped out the functionality of the Oxygen Sensor, ECG, Altimeter from the Apple Watch Series 6 on Friday. Not sure if that will be addressed in the Public Beta.
Be careful. Developer Beta wiped out the functionality of the Oxygen Sensor, ECG, Altimeter from the Apple Watch Series 6 on Friday. Not sure if that will be addressed in the Public Beta.
The release notes for the watchOS developer beta mentions the blood oxygen not being available on this release. However the release notes for the iOS developer beta makes no mention about the blood oxygen counterpart on the Health app, and yet, it is not available if paired with the GM code on the watch.
It seems, however, this is standard behavior: all newest features introduced with new hardware on the Apple Watch were unavailable on the first beta code after the GM of the new OS.
Friday February 3, 2023 1:13 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released iOS 16.3 in late January following nearly six weeks of beta testing. The software update is available for the iPhone 8 and newer, and while it is a relatively minor update, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes.
Below, we've recapped new features in iOS 16.3, including support for physical security keys as a two-factor authentication option for...
Saturday February 4, 2023 10:05 am PST by Eric Slivka
Online retailer TigerDirect has slashed pricing on the M1 iPad Air in several colors, offering the base 64GB configuration for just $313.99 in Purple and Pink.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with TigerDirect. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
That's a savings of 48% compared to Apple's normal $599.00...
Apple's next device with an Apple silicon chip may not be a Mac or an iPad, but rather an advanced external display, according to recent reports.
The display, which is rumored to arrive this year, is expected to sit somewhere between the $1,599 Studio Display and the $4,999 Pro Display XDR – but more exact information about the device's positioning and price point is as yet unknown. While ...
Sunday February 5, 2023 6:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple has discussed selling a new top-of-the-line iPhone alongside the Pro and Pro Max models in 2024 at the earliest, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this timeframe, the device would be part of the iPhone 16 lineup or later.
In a September 2022 edition of his weekly "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said there was "potential" for an iPhone 15 Ultra to replace the iPhone 15 Pro...
Thursday February 2, 2023 7:57 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's VP of hardware engineering Matthew Costello and product marketing employee Alice Chan recently spoke with Men's Journal and TechCrunch about the new second-generation HomePod in wide-ranging interviews about the smart speaker.
Apple discontinued the original full-size HomePod in March 2021 after multiple reports indicated that sales of the speaker were lackluster, but Chan told Men's ...
Google's Chromium developers are working on an experimental web browser for iOS that would break Apple's browser engine restrictions, The Register reports.
The experimental browser, which is being actively pursued by developers, uses Google's Blink engine. Yet if Google attempted to release it on the App Store, it would not pass Apple's App Review process.
Apple's App Store rules dictate...
Thursday February 2, 2023 6:41 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple appears to be preparing an iOS 16.3.1 update for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs this week. It's unclear when the update will be released, but it will likely be available at some point in February.
The same logs have accurately foreshadowed the release of several previous updates, including iOS 16.0.3 and iOS 16.1.1 most recently, so they...
Friday February 3, 2023 1:28 pm PST by Juli Clover
Today is the official launch day for the second-generation HomePod that was introduced in January, and we picked one up to compare it to the original HomePod that Apple discontinued in 2021.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Design wise, the second-generation HomePod looks a lot like the first-generation model, featuring the same rounded design and acoustic mesh...
Apple on January 23 released iOS 16.3, delivering support for Security Keys for Apple IDs, changes to Emergency SOS functionality, support for the second-generation HomePod, and more.
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Known Issues
* iPhone XR, iPhone 11, and iPad (8th generation) are not supported in iOS & iPadOS 14.2 beta at this time. Support will be added soon.
iOS & iPadOS 14.2 Beta Release Notes ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/ios-ipados-release-notes/ios-ipados-14_2-beta-release-notes')
However the release notes for the iOS developer beta makes no mention about the blood oxygen counterpart on the Health app, and yet, it is not available if paired with the GM code on the watch.
It seems, however, this is standard behavior: all newest features introduced with new hardware on the Apple Watch were unavailable on the first beta code after the GM of the new OS.