Apple's iOS 10.2 Update Lands: New Features Detailed

This week Apple dropped a ton of software updates into users'’ laps, including tvOS 10.1 and watchOS 3.1.1. But the biggest  release was iOS 10.2. Though it's got a ton of bug fixes, the beta also has several new features and improvements throughout the software. So just what's new under the hood in iOS 10.2? Here’s everything you need to know:

iOS 10.2: The Brand New TV App

The biggest new feature of iOS 10.2 is the new TV app. Apple first previewed the TV app off at its October event. The app serves as a content guide for the Apple TV. TV is aimed to help ease discovery on the Apple TV. The iPhone app works by showing you all the media in your iTunes library and also suggest shows you might like to watch based on your watch history.

TV also supports the long-awaited Single Sign-On and Siri Live Tune-In, which Apple previewed for tvOS way back in June, but it just wasn’t ready to ship with iOS 10 when it came out in September. If you have an Apple TV, this is going to make iOS 10.2 one of the most important updates for you this year.

And for those of you wondering where the Videos app went (yep, it’s gone), the TV app replaced it. The new TV app also gets a new iOS widget. When enabled, the widget will display the movies and TV shows you have stored in the TV app. Tap one to begin playing it.

iOS 10.2: Improved Music Controls

Apple has tweaked the Music app to give better access to the Shuffle and Repeat buttons in iOS10.2. Previously these buttons were usually hidden from the screen unless you swiped down. The new changes give the buttons maximum visibility. To access them, simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen in the Music app.

iOS 10.2: New Emoji

If you love emoji, you’ll love iOS 10.2. It adds over 100 new emoji including clown face, drooling face, selfie, fox face, owl, shark, butterfly, avocado, pancakes, and croissant, as well as dozens of other new animals, faces, food, sports, and professions.

iOS 10.2: Messages Gets New Full Screen Effects 

The Messages app gains two new animated full-screen effects: Love and Celebration

iOS 10.2: New Wallpapers

iOS 10.2 also adds the wallpapers that were used in the iPhone 7 marketing materials. There are three new wallpapers in total.

iOS 10.2: "Preserve Settings” For Camera App

This is a cool feature. Now in iOS 10.2 you have the option of preserving your camera settings. This means that when you relaunch the app, the same settings you used in it–including Camera Mode, Photo Filter, and Live Photo–will be remembered and you’ll be able to start shooting right away based on how you left off. The "Preserve Settings” setting will be found in the "Photos & Camera" section in the Settings app.

iOS 10.2: All The Other Fixes

There’s a ton of smaller improvements and bug fixes in iOS 10.2 as well. Here’s the full list from Apple:

TV

• Use Up Next to see the movies and shows you’re currently watching and pick up where you left off
• Get recommendations for new movies and TV shows in Watch Now
• Discover new apps and the latest iTunes releases in the Store
• Access the Library for your iTunes purchases and rentals

Emoji

• Beautifully redesigned emoji that reveal even more detail
• Over 100 new emoji including new faces, food, animals, sports, and professions

Photos

• Improves stabilization and delivers faster frame rate for Live Photos
• Improves accuracy of groupings of similar photos of the same person in the People album
• Fixes an issue where Memories might generate a memory from photos of screenshots, whiteboards or receipts
• Fixes an issue where the camera would stay zoomed in after switching back from the Camera Roll on iPhone 7 Plus
• Additional support for RAW digital cameras

Messages

• Adds new love and celebration full screen effects in Messages
• Fixes an issue that sometimes prevented the keyboard from displaying in Messages

Music

• Swipe up the Now Playing screen to more easily access Shuffle, Repeat and Up Next
• Choose how to sort Playlists, Albums, and Songs in Library

News

• Stories you’ve saved for later now appear the new Saved section
• The best paid stories from channels you subscribe to will now appear in a dedicated section in For You
• It’s now easier than ever to get to the next story, just swipe left or tap Next Story while reading

Mail

• Fixes an issue that caused the Move sheet to persist after filing a Mail message
• Addresses an issue with long press activating copy and paste in Mail
• Fixes an issue in which the wrong message would be selected after deleting a Mail conversation

Accessibility

• Adds BraillePen14 support to VoiceOver
• Fixes an issue where the braille table could switch unexpectedly with VoiceOver
• Fixes an issue where sometimes Siri enhanced voices were unavailable to VoiceOver
• Fixes an issue where VoiceOver users could not re-order items in lists
• Fixes an issue where Switch Control was sometimes unable to delete Voicemails

Other improvements and fixes

• Adds notification support for HomeKit accessories including window coverings, occupancy, motion, door/window, smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leak sensors
• Adds notification support for HomeKit accessories when software updates are available to HomeKit accessories
• Improves Bluetooth performance and connectivity with 3rd party accessories
• Fixes an issue that could cause FaceTime participants to appear out of focus
• Fixes an issue that could cause FaceTime calls to appear with incorrect aspect ratio and orientation
• Fixes an issue that prevented some Visual Voicemail from completing playback
• Fixes a Safari Reader issue that could cause articles to open as empty pages
• Fixes an issue that could cause Safari to quit unexpectedly after marking an item as read in Reading List