Apple seeds second iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, tvOS 15.2, macOS 12.1, and watchOS 8.3 betas to developers [Updated: What’s new and public betas]

The last time Apple seeded betas for its next updates to its operating systems, it was still October. But, today, the company is back at it again, preparing developers (and, eventually, public beta testers) for what’s to come on the software front. As such, there are new beta seeds available for developers.

Update #2 (11/10/2021): Apple has seeded the second public betas of iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, and macOS Monterey 12.1 to public beta testers. For those already in the program, they can download and install the new software as an over-the-air update on their properly registered devices.

If you are not part of the beta program, you can sign up right here.

Update (11/09/2021): It might not be a whole host of brand new features, especially those that some customers might describe as “must have,” but iOS 15.2’s latest beta does include some new additions. Here they are:

  • Legacy Contacts: With Legacy Contacts and Apple’s Digital Legacy feature, iPhone owners running the necessary software can designate individuals who can access their own account after they pass. This includes personal information as well.
  • Communication Safety: Apple has enabled Communication Safety, one of the three new features part of the Expanded Protections for Children suite the company unveiled earlier this year. This feature will notify children, and the child’s parents/guardians, if they are about to view content that has been designated potentially sexually explicit.
  • Apple TV app: The Apple TV app now has a dedicated sidebar, rather than the row of icons on the bottom.
  • Hide My Email: This security feature is now baked into the Mail app by default.
  • Find My: This beta adds the ability for iPhone users to open the Find My app and locate “Items That Can Track Me.” This new feature will essentially track unknown items will locate Find My-enabled devices, including AirTag, and inform you of their presence.

The original article continues below.

On Tuesday, November 9, 2021, Apple seeded the second betas of iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, tvOS 15.2, macOS Monterey 12.1, and watchOS 8.3 to developers.As is par for the course, this is prerelease software and it’s not meant to be installed on a daily driver. Instead, it should be installed only by developers at this stage and meant for testing purposes only.

Developers can download and install the new prerelease software via Apple’s developer portal. The proper registration profile must be installed on the devices that the software will be tested on. The new prerelease software can also be downloaded and installed as an over-the-air (OTA) update on properly registered devices.

iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 include Apple’s App Privacy report, which can be located via the Settings app. This will show new app activity details.

In addition to that, the iOS 15.2 beta also brought back one of the elements of Apple’s Expanded Protections for Children suite of features. Namely, Communication Safety. This specific feature is the tool that’s present in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. It will be built into the Messages app on those platforms, and it serves to offer up warnings of potentially explicit photos being shared in the app. Both children and the parents will be notified of that potentially harmful material. Those warnings will be issued when a photo is shared to the child or sent from the child’s device.

As far as what’s new in this latest beta seed, that remains to be seen. However, if there are any major forward facing new features added to the mix, we will update this post accordingly.