Apple today seeded the third public betas of upcoming iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 updates to its public beta testing group, two weeks after releasing the second betas and a day after providing the third betas to developers.
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.
Apple in iOS and iPadOS 14.2 is adding new Emoji 13 emoji characters, with options that include smiling face with tear, ninja, pinched fingers, anatomical heart, black cat, mammoth, polar bear, dodo, fly, bell pepper, tamale, bubble tea, potted plant, piñata, plunger, wand, feather, hut, and more, with a full list available here.
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 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.
For Apple Card users, the iOS 14.2 update adds a yearly spending history option so Apple Card holders can see how much they've spent in the current calendar year and how much Daily Cash they've earned. Prior to iOS 14.2, Apple Card offered spending activity information in a weekly or monthly summary.
As for smaller but interesting tweaks, iOS 14.2 brings a new icon for the Apple Watch app, with the watch now sporting one of Apple's new Solo Loop bands.
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 debuting starting next Friday.
