14 DAY TRIAL // Following the "It's Show Time" special event where it unveiled a plethora of new services, Apple released today the highly anticipated iOS 12.2 software update for iPhone and iPad devices.
After more than two months in development, the iOS 12.2 (build number 16E227) software update is here to add yet another layer of new features, improvements, as well as bug and security fixes to Apple's latest and greatest iOS 12 mobile operating system for supported iPhone and iPad devices.
Highlights of the iOS 12.2 release includes support the brand-new Apple News+ subscription service for digital magazines and daily newspapers, integrated into the Apple News app, which is now also available in Canada. Apple News+ is a paid service that costs $9.99 USD or $12.99 CAD.
iOS 12.2 also introduces support for the 2nd generation AirPods wireless headphones announced by Apple last week, support for configuring downtime for each day of the week with different schedules in the Screen Time feature, along with a new toggle to more easily enable or disable app limits.
Serveral AirPlay improvements are also present in iOS 12.2, such as dedicated TV controls in Control Center and Lock Screen, multitasking for videos, as well as grouping of destinations by content type so you can more easily find your favorite devices to send content to via AirPlay.
Four new Animoji, Siri and Apple Pay improvements, and more
Also new in iOS 12.2 is four new Animoji, including an owl, giraffe, boar, and shark, for you to use with your iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR devices, as well as the 3rd generation iPad Pro 12.9-inch and iPad Pro 11-inch. Siri also got support for playing videos, TV shows, movies, and channels on Apple TV.
There are numerous improvements for the Safari web brower as well in iOS 12.2, such as automatic website sign-in after filling credentials, warnings for unencrypted pages, support for modifying Smart Search Field queries, and Intelligent Tracking Prevention as a replacement for the old Do Not Track feature.
Last but not least, iOS 12.2 adds support for transfering money to your bank account via the Apple Pay Cash feature, support for displaying Apple Pay credit and debit transactions in the Wallet app, and improvements to the Browse tab of the Apple Music app to display more editorial highlights on a single page.
iOS 12.2 supports Air Quality Index in the US, UK, and India in the Maps app, real-time text (RTT) for phone calls, 5G E networks for iPhone 8 and later, as well as 3rd generation iPad Pro 12.9-inch and iPad Pro 11-inch with Wi-Fi + Cellular, better audio recording quality in the Messages app, and improved stability of the Apple TV Remote.
Of course, several annoying issues were addressed as well in the iOS 12.2 release, which is rolling out now to all supported iPhone and iPad devices. Users are urged to update their devices to iOS 12.2 as soon as possible by opening the Settings app, going into the General section, and accessing the Software Update panel.
