iOS 10.2

Apple seeds iOS 10.2 beta 6, and fifth betas of watchOS 3.1.1 and macOS 10.12.2

Apple on Monday released iOS 10.2 beta 6, watchOS 3.1.1 beta 5 and macOS 10.12.2 beta 5. Developers can install the updates via the company's dev portal, or via each platform's respective OTA update mechanism, and both iOS 10.2 and macOS betas are available to public testers.

The new betas come one week after Apple seeded beta 4 to developers, and just a few days after iOS 10.2 beta 5 was released. The rapid rollout suggests we are close to seeing public versions of the software—likely before the iTunes Connect holiday shutdown coming up in 2 weeks.

Apple issues iOS 10.2 beta 5 to developers

Apple on Friday released a fifth beta of iOS 10.2 (build 14C89) to its registered developers enrolled in the Apple Developer Program. The updated beta software can be deployed over-the-air through Settings → General → Software Update on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad which has installed a prior iOS 10.2 beta and an appropriate configuration profile. The full installer can be downloaded from Apple's dedicated portal for developers at developer.apple.com.

Apple releases beta 4 of iOS 10.2, watchOS 3.1.1 & macOS Sierra 10.12.2 to developers

Apple on Cyber Monday seeded new beta downloads to its registered developers who are enrolled in the Apple Developer Program. If you're a developer, iOS 10.2 beta 4 (build 14C82), watchOS 3.1.1 beta 4 (build 14S879) and macOS Sierra 10.12.2 beta 4 (build 16C53a) are now readily available as standalone downloads through the company's portal for developers or as over-the-air downloads on devices with a prior beta and an appropriate configuration profile.

DirecTV gains Single Sign-On support in iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1 betas

Single Sign-On, a feature that remembers and uses your cable/satellite logins across compatible video apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV, was originally promised months ago and should finally go live alongside public releases of iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1 next month.

As noted by MacRumors, AT&T's DirecTV service is now being listed as a Single Sign-On compatible app alongside the previously listed compatible providers: Dish, Sling TV, Hotwire and GVTC Communications.

Beloved butt-looking peach emoji is back in iOS 10.2 beta 3, looks even more like a butt

The first developer-only beta of the upcoming iOS 10.2 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch brought out more than a hundred new emoji characters, including clown face, selfie, owl, shark, butterfly and pancakes, as well as updated designs for many of the existing, older emojis.

Somewhere through the process of redrawing some of the longstanding emojis, Apple realized its design for the peach emoji didn’t quite look like a butt as the massive discontent among users vehemently insisted.

But don't you panic, emoji lovers and sexting addicts: iOS 10.2 beta 3 packs in a proper butt-looking peach emoji, as noted by The Next Web.

Apple seeds third beta of iOS 10.2, macOS Sierra 10.12.2, and tvOS 10.1 to developers

Apple on Monday seeded the third beta of iOS 10.2 to developers. Folks enrolled in Apple’s developer program can install the update via the over-the-air mechanism in the Settings app, or from the dev center.

Today's release comes just one week after beta 2, which added Apple's new TV app. In fact, iOS 10.2 features a lot of new stuff including emoji, wallpapers, settings, and improvements related to Emergency SOS.

iOS 10.2 brings Emergency SOS feature from the Apple Watch to your iPhone

The potentially life-saving Emergency SOS feature which debuted on the Apple Watch with the release of watchOS 3 this fall is coming soon to your iPhone via a forthcoming iOS 10.2 software update. As my colleague Cody pointed out, Emergency SOS is now available on an iPhone with iOS 10.2 beta 2. Here's a quick overview of Emergency SOS on the iPhone, how it's invoked and what happens when you use it.

iOS 10.2 beta 2 now available to public beta testers

If you're enrolled in the Apple Beta Software Program, you can now download a second beta of iOS 10.2 to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Apple yesterday released iOS 10.2 beta 2 to members of the Apple Developer Program and now the software is available to public beta testers, too. In addition to this new public beta, Apple also seeded macOS Sierra 10.12.2 beta 2 to registered developers today.

A quick look at Apple’s new TV app

Apple released the second betas of iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1 on Monday and in them, it included its new TV app. The company introduced the new app at its 'hello again' Mac event last month, saying they believe it's going to "completely change how you watch TV."

TV is essentially a television guide that helps you find and discover available content. So after using Single Sign-On to login with your cable credentials, the app will populate with movies, TV shows and live events, with a focus on stuff you might be interested in.

Apple seeds beta 2 of iOS 10.2, watchOS 3.1.1, and tvOS 10.1 to developers

Apple on Monday seeded the second beta of iOS 10.2 to developers. Folks enrolled in Apple’s developer program can install the update via the over-the-air mechanism in the Settings app, or from the dev center.

Beta 2 comes one week after the first beta was released, which revealed a number of user-facing changes and improvements like new wallpaper and emoji. Today's beta adds onto that with Apple's new TV app.

10+ new features in iOS 10.2 beta 1

Apple yesterday issued beta 1 of the forthcoming iOS 10.2 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. For starters, iOS 10.2 beta 1 includes three new wallpapers, provides a bunch of new emoji as part of the Unicode 9.0 standard and gives Camera the optional ability to remember filter, Live Photo and mode settings.

Star ratings are back in the Music app and Videos has its own widget. Oh, and you can now annoy friends with a brand new animation in Messages.

Without further ado, here's our video hands-on with iOS 10.2 beta 1 accompanied by a detailed description of all the new features and enhancements.