Everything New in iOS 12.2: HomeKit TV Support, Redesigned Remote, Safari Updates and More

[MacRumors]

Apple today released the first beta of iOS 12.2 for developers, and while it doesn't bring as many new changes as we might have hoped for in a 12.x update, there are still quite a few minor tweaks to be aware of.

Below, we've listed all of the new features and changes that we've discovered in iOS 12.2 so far, and we'll update this post should any additional features be found.

- Apple News for Canada - iOS 12.2 expands the availability of Apple News to Canada for the first time, with news sources available in either English or French.

- HomeKit TV Support - Apple recently announced that HomeKit support is coming to a number of third-party TVs, and iOS 12.2 introduces the infrastructure to allow users to add their TVs to HomeKit.

- Home Controls for TVs - Open up the Home app, tap the house-shaped icon in the upper left, choose "Home Settings" and you'll see an updated section for "Allow Speaker & TV Access," which was previously just "Allow Speaker Access." This setting lets you choose who can access and send content to your speakers and TVs.

- Redesigned TV Remote - The TV Remote feature in Control Center has been redesigned with a more streamlined look that takes advantage of the entire display and does away with the large Home button. The TV Remote also has a new dark interface, which was added in beta 3.

- New Screen Mirroring Icon - There's a redesigned Screen Mirroring icon in the Control Center that features two displays rather than a single display and an arrow.

Old design on left, new design on right​

- Wallet - The Wallet interface has been slightly tweaked when viewing a single card within the Wallet app. The info button has been relocated to the top, and there's now a "Done" button instead of an option to tap other cards at the bottom of the app. Transaction information is now listed more clearly, with a longer history available. The main wallet interface is largely unchanged, but the "+" button to add a new card is now black instead of blue. These changes may have been implemented ahead of a credit card partnership Apple is rumored to be entering with Goldman Sachs, which could be unveiled soon.

New design on left, old design on right​

- Apple Pay Cash - There's an "Add Money" option in Wallet when you select the Apple Pay Cash card. Before, you needed to go into the more detailed Apple Pay Cash view to add money to the card.

New design on left, old design on right​

- New AirPlay icon - Some users are seeing a new AirPlay icon when AirPlaying to certain devices.

- Safari search arrows - When entering a search term or website in the main bar in Safari, under the "Google Search" autofill section, there are now little blue arrows. Tapping an arrow adds the text to the search field, so you can get more targeted search results with just a few taps. In prior versions of Safari, tapping on a Google Search result simply conducted the search.

- Unsecure websites - Sites that do not use a secure HTTPS connection are now prominently listed as "Not Secure" in the Safari menu bar. There was a "Not Secure" feature in prior versions of iOS, but it only showed up on pages requesting a password or credit card. Now any unencrypted site shows the "Not Secure" heading.

- Air Quality in Maps - In the Maps app, there's a new option to display Air Quality alongside weather readings. It can be activated in the Maps section of the Settings app.

- Downtime in Screen Time - When using the Downtime feature in Screen Time, you can set Downtime options on a day by day basis. Prior to iOS 12.2, you weren't able to select specific days and times to activate Downtime.

- Safari Privacy - Apple is improving Safari's privacy in iOS 12.2 through a new Motion & Orientation toggle located under Settings --> Safari --> Privacy & Security, which is disabled by default. The setting needs to be enabled on to allow websites to display content that relies on motion data from the accelerometer and gyroscope in the iPhone and iPad.

- Lock screen charging fix - The second beta of iOS 12.2 had a pesky bug that caused the iPhone's charge to be displayed on the Lock screen instead of the time. In beta 3, that's been fixed.

- Apple News logo - In the Apple News app, instead of spelling out "Apple News," Apple uses the "?" symbol along with the word "News," similar to Apple Pay.

-Apple News app icon - Along with a new logo, Apple News has a new app icon featuring a stylized red N on a field of white.

- About screen - The interface for viewing information about your iPhone has been updated and rearranged in a more logical way with info like model number and serial number at the top with carrier information at the bottom.

- Group FaceTime bug fix - The Group FaceTime bug has been addressed in iOS 12.2 and Group FaceTime is now once again available to iOS 12.2 users.

Siri Apple Store suggestions - There's a new section under Siri & Search > Apple Store that indicates Siri in iOS 12.2 will be able to suggest Today at Apple sessions for you based on your Safari and app usage.

- Control Center Remote icon - The Remote icon in Control Center now resembles a remote instead of using an Apple TV logo.

Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari - In iOS 12.2, Apple is adding updates to Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature to make it even harder for websites to track you. Apple is also nixing support for Do Not Track, an outdated opt-in feature that many websites ignored.

Audio Messages quality - Audio messages, which can be sent in the Messages app, sound a lot better in iOS 12.2 thanks to the adoption of a new 24000 Hz Opus codec that makes spoken audio sent to friends and family crisper, clearer, and louder. The higher quality audio messages can be sent and received from devices running the iOS 12.2 update.

The iOS 12.2 update is available to both developers and public beta testers at the current time. It's not yet known when Apple plans to release the update, but because it includes hints of the new Apple News service, which is expected to debut in late March, it could be released right around that time.

Article Link: Everything New in iOS 12.2: HomeKit TV Support, Redesigned Remote, Safari Updates and More

 

[freezah]

Hey Apple, when are you going to support Polish language in Siri and dictionaries ? It’s about effin time!

 

[newyorksole]

Hmmm ok some nice little tweaks. I really wonder what iOS 13 is going to be like.

 

[sniffies]

What a great ad for ESPN

 

[WhoDaKat]

Only one thing in iOS matters. Change the stupid camera button on the lock screen to my Apple TV remote!!!! I can slide over to get to the camera from the lock screen, why do I need the freaking button as well. The most un-useful thing about iOS is that stupid camera button. LOL

 

[ersan191]

Not a fan of the Remote redesign - hopefully they don't do away with the skip forward/back buttons as I use them a lot.

 

[braddick]

Please, please, don't slow down the SE.

 

[macduke]

Lots of good little changes. My favorite is the new Control Center Remote, which looks like it now requires the home button/indicator to dismiss. I use that a lot while watching TV because I can never find my Apple TV remote, and often I would accidentally close it by tapping on the outside. If only it could be used to change the volume on my sound bar as well, but I think that requires an IR blaster.

 

[itsmilo]

On Face ID devices, Apple recommends double clicking the side button, choosing the desired card, and then authenticating via Face ID before holding the iPhone near the reader.

Excuse my ignorance but how else do you use ApplePay? That’s my normal workflow lol

 

[Aston441]

Please, please, don't slow down the SE.

Yeah

Traditionally the very last point version was the slowdown one for devices being obsoleted.

They got blindsided by lawsuits, including by governments, with iOS 11 but I haven't seen any news on those lately so presumably those were all settled or dropped prior to Discovery.

Discovery is what I suspect Apple will do ANYTHING to prevent.

Imagine if all of Apple internal documents were made public in a court of law lol!!!

 

[NMBob]

Not a fan of the Remote redesign - hopefully they don't do away with the skip forward/back buttons as I use them a lot.

It only took one step to get to them. That wasn't enough. Does that bar at the bottom of the screen mean that it now takes two steps?

 

[BornAgainMac]

I feel like iOS 13 is going to be a huge update after reading this article for some reason.

 

[ghostface147]

See you early March.

 

[Newton1600]

Apple Pay Cash Canada please!!!

 

[seatton]

I am very excited for this update since some new design looks will make my phone bigger.....

 

[now i see it]

Do any conspiracy theorists think that for every new feature Apple brings to iOS, they intentionally break some existing features that always worked in the past?

iOS always has something broken. Always a work in progress.

 

[GuruZac]

Damn, I was really hoping for more Haptic Touch shortcuts for the XR.

 

[BeyondtheTech]

All these little tweaks all over the place, and yet, the iPhone’s original “killer app,” the Phone app, has yet to get features and fixes it needs:

• The swiping and selection in the scroll list is still limited to one entry at a time, where every other app that can swipe to erase or perform an action on multiple entries.
• CallKit API needs to have RegEx support instead of a discombobulated JSON table of every phone number combination.
• Blocked Callers list is still rudimentary at best, can’t export or import
• Whitelisting / Allowed Callers list is a much-more-needed feature to just allow your contacts to reach you
• Incoming calls still paralyze your entire iPhone experience. Should be a pop-up or banner notification that can be dismissed, and even let the call continue to ring in the background until it times out, instead of forcing it directly to voicemail.
• Google Pixel 3’s new call screening feature is so desperately needed on the iPhone. Your phone number should be able to be made as private as a social media account.

 

[erinsarah]

Do any conspiracy theorists think that for every new feature Apple brings to iOS, they intentionally break some existing features that always worked in the past?

Conspiracy? By my experience, that's exactly how ALL software development works. I've worked for 6 different software companies in my career, and I'd say that's pretty much the norm.

Also, I'd like to point out that most of these items listed are ones that will confused the heck out of people who don't read this post (or others like it). For example those little blue arrows in the google searches solve a HUGE beef of mine, but I'd never know what they were without reading this. We've solidly reached a point (a while ago, in fact) where IOS is no longer completely intuitive.
[doublepost=1548364315][/doublepost]

All these little tweaks all over the place, and yet, the iPhone’s original “killer app,” the Phone app, has yet to get features and fixes it needs:

• The swiping and selection in the scroll list is still limited to one entry at a time, where every other app that can swipe to erase or perform an action on multiple entries.
• CallKit API needs to have RegEx support instead of a discombobulated JSON table of every phone number combination.
• Blocked Callers list is still rudimentary at best, can’t export or import
• Whitelisting / Allowed Callers list is a much-more-needed feature to just allow your contacts to reach you
• Incoming calls still paralyze your entire iPhone experience. Should be a pop-up or banner notification that can be dismissed, and even let the call continue to ring in the background until it times out, instead of forcing it directly to voicemail.
• Google Pixel 3’s new call screening feature is so desperately needed on the iPhone. Your phone number should be able to be made as private as a social media account.

I have a feeling some of that is coming, given how much coverage number spoofing and scam calls have gotten in the news as of late.

I would add one more to the list...you know those three options you see when you're on a call and you get another call...I think they are "end and accept", "hold and accept", and "send to voicemail" or something like that? Am I the only one who has to spend a good three or four seconds reading the three options in hopes of selecting the right one while at the same time trying to speak intelligibly to the person with whom I'm currently on the phone? I never pick the right one.

 

[dan9700]

nothing worth it, just let us remove the dam homebar

 

[McTool]

Lots of good little changes. My favorite is the new Control Center Remote, which looks like it now requires the home button/indicator to dismiss. I use that a lot while watching TV because I can never find my Apple TV remote, and often I would accidentally close it by tapping on the outside. If only it could be used to change the volume on my sound bar as well, but I think that requires an IR blaster.

Do you mean rhe iPhone remote app for controlling the volume?
It does work with the physical remote. But I guess you know o

 

[millerlite]

Nice, but I can't believe they reworked the Apple TV remote layout, but still didn't put in volume controls. If I want to change the volume on my TV, I can use the physical remote, but not the one on my phone? Not cool.

 

[justperry]

After my short time on this beta it seems like Safari (iOS) at last is fixed, so many pages didn't load if they open a security/cookie page/layer first, going back ended up in a blank page.

 

[Cosmosent]

Would love to see MacRumors run a Benchmark test on each Release, & include that in the Article.

That way everyone could "track Performance changes over time".

For example, when I first received my XR, I began testing with it, & immediately discovered it does't Ramp Up Performance like older iPhones, like my 7+ OR even my 6s.

Would be nice to know if AAPL fixed that issue.

I think it's an issue with what AAPL calls the Performance Controller ... either that, OR the low-level OS software that interacts with it ... something is just terrible wrong there !

My 7+ has FAR SUPERIOR Ramp Up Perf than my XR.

That's just one example.

I'm sure others have discovered other "items" that should be on everyone's Radar, as well.

 

[err404]

Nice, but I can't believe they reworked the Apple TV remote layout, but still didn't put in volume controls. If I want to change the volume on my TV, I can use the physical remote, but not the one on my phone? Not cool.

Your phone doesn’t have an IR blaster like the physical remote. Still, it would have been cool for the Apple TV base to shoot out the signal.