Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 12.2 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the first beta of iOS 12.2 and a little over two weeks since the release of iOS 12.1.3.
Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.2 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.
iOS 12.2 brings Apple News to Canada for the first time, with Canadian iPhone and iPad users able to read news stories in English, French, or both.
The update introduces support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit on third-party TVs, with a new option for limiting TV access joining the speaker access option in the Home app. There's also a redesigned TV remote in Control Center, and with tvOS 12.2, you can ask Siri to play specific content on your HomeKit devices like the Apple TV.
The Wallet app's interface has been streamlined and tweaked, there's a new interface for Apple Pay Cash, and the Downtime feature in Screen Time now allows you to customize by day. Apple has also made minor changes to some icons and introduced new Safari features, with a full list available in in our iOS 12.2 tidbits post.
Apple plans to improve Safari privacy in iOS 12.2 through a new Motion & Orientation Access toggle located under Settings --> Safari --> Privacy & Security. The setting needs to be turned on to allow websites to display content that relies on motion data from the accelerometer and gyroscope in the iPhone and iPad.
iOS 12.2 confirms that Apple is planning to release second-generation AirPods with "Hey Siri" support, thanks to a hidden "Hey Siri" AirPods setup screen in the beta. The inclusion of the AirPods setup option in the beta indicates that Apple could perhaps be planning to release new AirPods when iOS 12.2 is released.
The update also features hints of an upcoming Apple News subscription service, which could see a Texture-like magazine service added to Apple News.
The iOS 12.2 is likely to see several rounds of beta testing before it launches to the public.
What's new in iOS 12.2 beta 2: The update introduces four new Animoji, which can be used in the Messages and FaceTime apps. It also displays battery percentage on the Lock screen instead of the date, something that's a bug, and on AT&T devices, it shows a new "5G E" icon. AT&T users should not be fooled, though, this is not true 5G and is instead still LTE despite the labeling.
