Apple Releases Fourth Betas of iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth betas of upcoming iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 updates to developers, one week after seeding the third betas and a month after releasing the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates.

iOS and iPadOS 14.2 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper developer profile has been installed.

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.

The iOS 14.2 update also brings a new Music Recognition control for the Control Center, which enhances 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. While Apple devices have been able to use Shazam through Siri or the Shazam app for some time, the Control Center option makes it easier to get to the music recognition tool.

The new update also includes a redesigned Now Playing widget for the Control Center, which lists recently played albums that you might want to tap into and 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 the Apple Watch app on the ‌iPhone‌, Apple tweaked the design slightly, updating the watch with one of the new Solo Loop Apple Watch bands.

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.

With the HomePod 14.2 software, the iOS 14.2 update introduces the Intercom feature that turns ‌HomePod‌, HomePod mini, and other devices into intercoms that can be used throughout the household.

Intercom lets family members communicate with one another in the home by sending and receiving spoken messages through ‌HomePod‌ speakers or through ‌iPhone‌, iPad, Apple Watch, ‌AirPods‌, and CarPlay. Intercom can be activated by saying "Hey ‌Siri‌, Intercom" to activate it, followed by a message. Intercom can even be used when people are away from home.

You can choose specific HomePods or devices in the home to send a message to everyone in the household or send a reply to an Intercom message sent by someone else. On devices like ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌, Intercom messages are shown as notifications with the option to listen to an audio message.

There's no word on when the iOS 14.2 update will see a public launch, but Apple could be planning to release it after the debut of the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max, which are expected to be available on November 13.

Update: iOS 14.2 beta 4 introduces new wallpaper options, with both photorealistic and drawn art available. Each wallpaper has a light mode and a dark mode option. The wallpapers can be seen and downloaded here.