APPLE

iOS 16.2: What's New

iOS 16.2, the next major update to the iOS 16 operating system, should be released in mid-December along with iPad OS 16.2. That's what the trusted Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman said in his Power On newsletter, referring to what we expect until the end of 2022.

The first beta of iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 was released to developers and public beta testers last week. Thus, not all the possibilities and changes that it brings have been disclosed. But we know a few and we will mention them below.

Live Activities for Televised Sports Games...iOS 16.2 will again add live activities integration for select sports games to the built-in TV app on the iPhone. Users will be able to watch games in real time using the lock screen feature or Dynamic Island for iPhone 14 Pro models.

Lock Screen Sleep Widget...iOS 16.2 will add a new Sleep widget option for users to add to their lock screen. There are three options: one shows time spent in bed, another shows a bar graph representing sleep quality, and the third shows time spent in bed along with a visual representation(image above).

Freeform App...Announced at WWDC, Freeform is a new app from Apple that allows users to collaborate with friends and colleagues on a single whiteboard with drawings, text, videos, images and more. Freeform is now available to developers and public beta testers and is expected to release alongside iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, and macOS Ventura 13.1 in mid-December(image bove).

External Display Support in iPadOS 16...iPadOS 16.2 will bring back support for external displays for select iPad models. Prior to the release of iPadOS 16, Apple said it would delay external display support for iPad and Stage Manager and bring it back later this year. Supporting external displays with iPadOS 16.2 will allow users to connect their iPad to an external display and use Stage Manager to multitask with multiple windows and applications running simultaneously.

With iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 due out in December, there's still plenty of time for Apple to add new features and changes to the update. After iOS 16.2 in mid-December, Apple is expected to release iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, and macOS Ventura‌ 13.3 in February and March to coincide with new Mac releases, according to Gurman.

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