iOS 10.2 now available with many new iPhone and iPad features

iOS 10.2 Messages Celebration screen effect iPhone screenshot 002

Nearly two months since it began testing iOS 10.2 with its registered developers, Apple today released the software update for public consumption. To update your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to iOS 10.2, go to Settings → General → Software Update. iOS 10.2 has a build number “14C92” and is recommended for all users. Also released today: tvOS 10.1 for Apple TV with the new “TV” app and support for Single Sign-On, plus watchOS 3.1.1 for Apple Watch owners with 100+ new Unicode 9.0 emoji and the ability to change emoji skin tone.

iOS 10.2 brings out more than two-dozen new features, including new wallpapers, widgets and emoji, Apple’s dedicated channel guide app, the Emergency SOS feature from the Apple Watch, the option to preserve camera settings, a pair of brand new screen effects for Messages and much more.

As a commenter pointed out, the public release of iOS 10.2 comes with the exact same “14C92” build number of the last 10.2 public beta. Needless to say, folks who are jailbroken are wholeheartedly recommended to hold off upgrading to iOS 10.2 until we have more information on the update.

How to install iOS 10 on iPhone and iPad

You can install iOS 10.2 over the air in Settings → General → Software Update on your device or via iTunes: connect your device to a computer via a USB cable, launch desktop iTunes and select the device, click the Summary tab, then click Check for Update.

You can also download the full iOS 10.2 installer through our Downloads webpage or, if you’re enrolled in the Apple Developer Program, via Apple’s portal for developers.

iOS 10.2 TV app teaser 001

Here’s a quick rundown on the changes in iOS 10.2.

What’s new in iOS 10.2

Experience

  • 3 new droplets wallpapers for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
  • Bluetooth headphones and other wireless audio devices now display a headphone icon in the iOS status bar.
  • Unicode 9.0 emoji, such as clown face, drooling face, selfie, face palm, fox face, owl, shark, butterfly, avocado, pancakes, croissant and more. There are also profession emoji in male and female genders like firefighter, mechanic, lawyer, doctor, scientist and others. There are 100+ new emoji to choose from and some of the older emoji have been redrawn in Apple’s new style.
  • Emergency SOS feature from Apple Watch can now be invoked when the Power button is pressed five times in a quick succession. You can set up or disable Emergency SOS, choose your emergency contacts and adjust other features like the countdown sound in Settings → General → Emergency SOS. A new splash screen in iOS 10.2’s Health app reminds you to pick your emergency contacts. The feature works in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, UK and US.
  • Smoother animations throughout iOS, but still not 100 percent perfect.

Camera

  • “Preserve Settings” section in Settings → Photos & Camera for remembering the last-used Camera Mode, Photo Filter or Live Photo setting. The last option prompts Camera to remember your last-used Live Photo mode rather than automatically reset to Live Photo turned on, like before.

Messages

  • “Love” and “Celebration” fullscreen effects in Messages.
  • Quick Reply text is now saved. This lets you start typing a message in the Quick Reply interface and continue right where you left off after launching the full Messages app.
  • “Show Contact Photos” in Settings → Messages, when disabled, now also removes profile images from the top of conversation threads. Previously, this toggle removed contact photos from Messages’ main conversation view only.

Music

  • Music app has more prominent Shuffle and Repeat buttons.
  • “Show Star Ratings” section in Settings → Music to turn on displaying your star ratings in the action sheets within the Music app. When this is on, you can also rate a song by pressing it in Music with 3D Touch.
  • Sorting options for your music have been removed from Settings → Music because they’re now accessible directly in the Music app. Options to sort playlists by Type, Title or Recently Added can now be found in Music as well.

Notification Center

  • Notification Center now remembers the place where you left off, including your position on the widgets screen. This lets you jump directly to your favorite widgets when invoking Notification Center from the Lock/Home screen.

Single Sign-On

  • Single Sign-On support in Settings → TV Provider.

Siri

  • “Press and Hold to Speak” section in Settings → General → Accessibility → Home Button to disable or replace Siri with Voice Control when holding the Home button. When enabling Siri from a disabled state, a new splash screen pops up.

TV app

  • “TV”, Apple’s new channel guide app, lets you see your TV subscriptions along with iTunes purchases and rentals in one convenient place. The app supports Single Sign-On and Siri Live Tune-In and features a built-in store to discover new releases, premium movies and popular TV shows.
  • “TV“ widget for the TV app.
  • Videos app and its accompanying widget have been removed.

It’s worth mentioning that iOS 10.2’s new emoji are available on macOS 10.12.2 and watchOS 3.1.1 as well. And with the new “Celebration” and “Love” screen effects in Messages, you’re all set to spice up your messaging game even more than before.

iOS 10.2 Messages Celebration screen effect iPhone screenshot 001

Apple’s release notes

Here are full iOS 10.2 release notes from Apple:

iOS 10.2 introduces new features including the TV app (US Only), a new and unified experience for accessing your TV shows and movies across multiple video apps. Emoji have been beautifully redesigned to reveal even more detail and over 100 new emoji have been added including new faces, food, animals, sports, and professions. This update also includes stability improvements and bug fixes.

TV

  • Use Up Next to see the movies and shows you’re currently watching and pick up where you left off
  • Get recommendations for new movies and TV shows in Watch Now
  • Discover new apps and the latest iTunes releases in the Store
  • Access the Library for your iTunes purchases and rentals

Emoji

  • Beautifully redesigned emoji that reveal even more detail
  • Over 100 new emoji including new faces, food, animals, sports, and professions

Photos

  • Improves stabilization and delivers faster frame rate for Live Photos
  • Improves accuracy of groupings of similar photos of the same person in the People album
  • Fixes an issue where Memories might generate a memory from photos of screenshots, whiteboards or receipts
  • Fixes an issue where the camera would stay zoomed in after switching back from the Camera Roll on iPhone 7 Plus
  • Additional support for RAW digital cameras

Messages

  • Adds new love and celebration full screen effects in Messages
  • Fixes an issue that sometimes prevented the keyboard from displaying in Messages

Music

  • Swipe up the Now Playing screen to more easily access Shuffle, Repeat and Up Next
  • Choose how to sort Playlists, Albums, and Songs in Library

News

  • Stories you’ve saved for later now appear the new Saved section
  • The best paid stories from channels you subscribe to will now appear in a dedicated section in For You
  • It’s now easier than ever to get to the next story, just swipe left or tap Next Story while reading

Mail

  • Fixes an issue that caused the Move sheet to persist after filing a Mail message
  • Addresses an issue with long press activating copy and paste in Mail
  • Fixes an issue in which the wrong message would be selected after deleting a Mail conversation

Accessibility

  • Adds BraillePen14 support to VoiceOver
  • Fixes an issue where the braille table could switch unexpectedly with VoiceOver
  • Fixes an issue where sometimes Siri enhanced voices were unavailable to VoiceOver
  • Fixes an issue where VoiceOver users could not re-order items in lists
  • Fixes an issue where Switch Control was sometimes unable to delete Voicemails

Other improvements and fixes

  • Adds notification support for HomeKit accessories including window coverings, occupancy, motion, door/window, smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leak sensors
  • Adds notification support for HomeKit accessories when software updates are available to HomeKit accessories
  • Improves Bluetooth performance and connectivity with 3rd party accessories
  • Fixes an issue that could cause FaceTime participants to appear out of focus
  • Fixes an issue that could cause FaceTime calls to appear with incorrect aspect ratio and orientation
  • Fixes an issue that prevented some Visual Voicemail from completing playback
  • Fixes a Safari Reader issue that could cause articles to open as empty pages
  • Fixes an issue that could cause Safari to quit unexpectedly after marking an item as read in Reading List

Apple’s support document details all the bug fixes and security patches in iOS 10.2.

What’s your favorite new feature in iOS 10.2?

As you can see from our laundry list of new features, enhancements and improvements, iOS 10.2 looks to be another feature-packed release for Apple following iOS 10.1’s release on October 24.

What’s your favorite new feature in iOS 10.2, and why? Are you jailbroken or not and will you be upgrading your iOS hardware to iOS 10.2?