Watch this video for all the iOS 16 beta 2 changes and new features in action, including wallpaper editing, iCloud backups over LTE and more.
New features and changes in iOS 16 beta 2
Apple on June 22 released the second developer betas of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, tvOS 16, watchOS 9 and macOS 13 Ventura following the first betas which were released following the conclusion of the June 9 WWDC keynote. The second beta of iOS 16 is more stable and less buggy than its predecessor, but of course you expected that. In terms of iOS 16 beta 2 changes, there are also a few new features and improvements to look forward to. Our videographer Michael Billig (@michael_billig) put together a little video to walk you through everything new, changed and fixed in iOS 16 beta 2.
- iCloud Backup via LTE: Apple has supported backing up your device to iCloud via Wi-Fi and 5G, but now this feature also overs over LTE connections in iOS 16.
- Lock screen customization: iOS 16 beta 2 adds two new looks for your lock screen photo, dubbed DuoTone and Color Wash. Apple’s lock screen editor in iOS 16 beta 2 lets you delete a lock screen by swiping upwards (the same as deleting a watch face on your Apple Watch).
- Wallpaper cropping label: When setting your wallpaper, you’ll see a line saying “Pinch to Crop” letting you know you can use pinching to adjust the crop.
- Wallpaper editing label: Setting your home and lock screen wallpaper in iOS 16t beta 2 is now easier thanks to a new “Customize” button that appears under your current home screen and lock screen wallpaper in Settings → Wallpapers.
- Screenshot saving: The screenshot-editing interface has picked up a “Save to Quick Note” option that appears alongside the existing “Save to Photos”, “Save to Files” and “Delete Screenshot” options when saving your screenshot.
- Location on the Earth wallpaper: When editing the Earth wallpaper in iOS 16 beta 2, your current location is displayed on the globe as a green dot. Your location is only visible when editing the wallpaper. To turn this off, switch off the “Astronomy” toggle in your location services settings. By the way, tjhis dynamic wallpaper now works on older devices supported by iOS 16, including the iPhone XS and iPhone XR.
- Health app metrics: The Health app now supports Apple’s new metrics for running workouts such as ground contact time, running power, running speed, stride length and vertical oscillation.
- SMS filtering: Developers of SMS filtering apps have a dozen new categories to filter spam messages into even more different categories. Apple notes that the second beta of iOS 16 permits developers to “classify incoming SMS from unknown numbers into 12 new sub-categories within Transaction and Promotion categories for improved organization.”
- SMS junk reporting: The Report Junk option in the Messages app now lets you report SMS/MMS junk to US carriers. This works for some but not all carriers.
- Translate app languages: iOS 16 beta 2 adds support for Turkish, Thai, Polish, Indonesian and Dutch to Apple’s Translate app.
When will the iOS 16 public beta arrive?
Apple has said that it will release a public beta of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, tvOS 16, watchOS 9 and macOS 13 Ventura sometime in July, but wouldn’t commit to any firm release date. A report from Bloomberg previously alleged that the iOS 16 public beta may arrive a bit later than usual as it may take a little longer to make it stable enough for anyone to test-drive on their device. If history is any indication, the first public beta of iOS 16 should include all the features found in the developer-only iOS 16 beta 2 or beta 3. If all goes well, the initial iOS 16 public beta will be available via the Apple Beta Software Program at beta.apple.com. You’re going to log in to that website using your Apple ID to download a special configuration profile on your device. After that, the device will restart and the iOS 116 public beta will pop up in Software Update. Read: How to update the software powering your Apple AirTags