Following the release of the second developer beta yesterday, Apple has released the second public beta of iOS 14.2 today. The update includes new emoji options for users, as well as tweaks to Control Center and more.
The highlight of iOS 14.2 public beta 2 are new emoji. These emoji were approved earlier this year as part of the Emoji 13.0 release by the Unicode Consortium. Notably, it’s even easier than usual to find the new emoji this year with iOS 14. One of the new features in iOS 14 is the ability to search the collection of emoji characters.
In total, there are 117 new emoji coming to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users this year, with different skin tone options, new gender-inclusive options, and more. The new emoji options in iOS 14.2 beta 2 include bubble tea, a transgender flag, seal, feather, and more.
You can update to iOS 14.2 beta 2 by heading to the Settings app, choosing Software Update, and installing the available update. If you don’t see it immediately, keep checking as it may take a few minutes to hit your device.
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In iOS 14, Apple overhauled widgets and introduced an option for adding widgets to the Home Screen, but in the process, a well-loved Favorites widget that existed in iOS 13 was removed.
The Favorites widget allowed users to set certain contacts and contact methods as favorites that were easily accessible, so you could, for example, add a favorite option for messaging Eric or calling Dan, with those actions executed with a tap on the widget.
Why the Favorites widget was removed is a mystery and it could be a simple oversight with Apple planning to reintroduce it later, but for now, those who relied on the widget can recreate its functionality with Shortcuts. It takes some effort, but it may be worth the time investment if you often relied on your Favorites.
Creating a Favorites Shortcut
Making a shortcut that replicates the behavior of the Favorites widget isn't too tough, but if you want multiple favorite options, you'll need to create a separate shortcut for each one in the Shortcuts app.
Open the Shortcuts app.
Tap on the "<- Shortcuts" label in the upper left hand corner.
Tap on the folder icon in the top right to create a new folder. Your favorites shortcuts need to be in a folder if you want to use them with the Shortcuts widget.
Name the folder ("Favorites" in our case) and choose an icon.
Tap on the new folder ("Favorites") and then tap the "+" icon to start creating shortcuts.
After this step, there are slightly different Shortcut creation methods that can be used to create quick contact options for calling, FaceTiming, and messaging someone.
Making a Shortcut to Call Someone
Tap Add Action and then search for "Phone" or "Call."
Tap the Phone app.
Tap on one of the suggested contacts that Shortcuts offers or tap on the "+" button to select a different contact.
Make sure the Shortcut you've created says Call [Contact Name].
Tap Next.
Give the Shortcut a name. ("Call John" in our case)
Tap the icon to the left to the name to select both a color and an icon for your Shortcut.
Tap "Done."
After you tap Done, your shortcut to make a phone call to one of your contacts will be listed in the appropriate folder in the Shortcuts app. To activate it, just tap it and it will automatically call the intended person. Repeat these steps for anyone you want to create a call shortcut for.
Making a Shortcut to FaceTime Someone
Tap Add Action and then search for "FaceTime" or "Call."
Tap the FaceTime app to get to the Shortcut editing options.
Tap on "FaceTime" to select either standard FaceTime or FaceTime Audio.
Tap on the [Contact] blank to select a contact from the list.
Make sure the Shortcut you've created says FaceTime [Contact Name].
Tap Next.
Give the Shortcut a name.
Tap the icon next to the name to select both a color and an icon for your Shortcut.
Tap "Done."
When you tap this Shortcut, it will initiate a FaceTime call to the person that was added as the contact.
Making a Shortcut to Message Someone
Tap Add Action and then search for "Messages."
Tap on "Send Message."
Tap on the [Recipients] blank to select a contact.
Type in the name of the person you want to be able to message.
Make sure the Shortcut you've created says Send "Message" to [Contact].
Tap Next.
Give the Shortcut a name.
Tap the icon next to the name to select both a color and an icon for your Shortcut.
Tap "Done."
Tapping the finished Shortcut will open up the Messages app with a compose window for the person who you added as your target contact. Note that if you want to send a message to more than one person, just type in multiple names at the part where you're entering the name of your contact.
Adding the Shortcuts Favorites Widget to Your Home Screen
Once you've created all your shortcuts for quickly sending a message, calling, or FaceTiming your contacts, you're ready to add a widget that can be accessed from the widget interface or right from the Home Screen.
Swipe over to where you want to place your new Favorite Widget.
Press and hold on the Home Screen to enter "Jiggle" Mode, and then tap the "+" button in the upper left hand corner.
Search for Shortcuts and tap the icon.
Choose the widget you want. If you made a single favorites Shortcut, tap the single option. If you have two to four, tap the size with four, and choose eight if you have more.
Tap Add Widget.
Tap on the widget to customize it.
Tap on the folder where you put all your favorites shortcuts.
Tap out of the interface and tap "Done."
That's all there is to it. Once the Shortcuts widget is set up with the appropriate folder that contains all of your contact shortcuts, a tap on any one of the widget options will initiate the action right from the widget interface, just like the prior favorites widget.
Note that the Shortcuts widget has limited space when it comes to names, so you may need to shorten some of the Shortcut names you've created to make it clear who's going to be contacted if you have multiples.
Just to be clear, it's the Favorites widget that's been removed, not the Favorites functionality in its entirety. You can still create and access your previously made favorite options in the Phone app under the "Favorites" tab if that's easier than making a whole bunch of Shortcuts.
A new browser app which you can download directly from the App Store provides a relatively simple way to play Google Stadia on iPhones and iPads, Engadget reports. Apple’s rules currently mean that game streaming services like Stadia, xCloud, and GeForce Now are not yet officially available on iOS or iPadOS.
The app, Stadium, isn’t the first workaround that’s managed to get Stadia running on Apple’s mobile devices, but it makes the whole process a lot simpler. Its developer, u/zmknox, outlines how the process works in a Reddit post here. It’s as easy as downloading the app, entering a few details, and logging into your Google account. Other Reddit users have previously reported being able to use existing browsers to achieve the same thing, but Stadium streamlines the whole process.
A screenshot of Destiny 2.Screenshot: Stadium
Stadia’s interface isn’t well optimized for iPhone.Screenshot: Stadium
We were able to download Stadium and to play a couple of games, but our results were a little mixed. Stadia’s interface didn’t scale properly to our iPhone’s display (perhaps understandable given it’s not officially supported), and the DualShock 4 controller we used disconnected in the middle of a game, with seemingly no way to reconnect. However, from the Reddit comments, it seems like the iPad’s screen aspect ratio offers a much better experience, with multiple users reporting that the workaround works “perfectly” for them.
The release of Stadium comes as Amazon has opted to use a very similar approach for its own Luna game streaming service on iOS and iPadOS. Rather than offering a traditional app for Apple’s devices, Amazon is instead using a progressive web app (PWA), essentially a website that can be launched in its own container that makes it feel like a regular app. Stadium’s developer, u/zmknox, said that it was Luna’s announcement which prompted them to look into the browser approach.
Red Dead Redemption 2 on an iPhone via Stadia.Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
What remains to be seen is whether Apple allows Stadium to remain on the App Store once it realizes what the app is designed to do. However, Apple’s App Store policies specifically mention “the open Internet and web browser apps” as a means of reaching users outside of the App Store when it comes to streaming games, which suggests the approach should be allowed. Stadium’s App Store listing makes no mention of its Stadia support.
Although Apple recently updated its App Store rules for game streaming services, it still doesn’t allow services like Google Stadia and xCloud in their current form. Apple’s rules require that each streaming game be submitted to, and downloaded from, the App Store as individual apps. At the moment, game streaming services work by giving you a single app to download, within which you can play all the service’s games. This approach continues to not be allowed on Apple’s devices, and Microsoft isn’t impressed.
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 updates to developers, two weeks after seeding the first betas and a little over two weeks after releasing the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates.
iOS and iPadOS 14.2 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper developer profile has been installed.
The iOS 14.2 update brings a new Music Recognition control for the Control Center, which enhances the integration of the Apple-owned Shazam app in the iOS operating system. Music Recognition lets you discover music playing around you and it can recognize music playing in apps even when you're wearing AirPods.
The Shazam Music Recognition feature can be added to Control Center through the Control Center options in the Settings app. To use the feature, open up Control Center and then tap on the Shazam icon to initiate a single recognition. While Apple devices have been able to use Shazam through Siri or the Shazam app for some time, the Control Center option makes it easier to get to the music recognition tool.
The new update also includes a redesigned Now Playing widget for the Control Center, which lists recently played albums that you might want to tap into and listen to when you have no music playing. There's also a redesigned interface for AirPlay, making it easier to play music across multiple AirPlay 2-enabled devices in the home.
For those who have low vision, Apple added a "People Detection" feature in the Magnifier app that uses the camera to let iPhone users know how far away other people are, which can be useful for social distancing purposes.
The new iOS 14.2 beta will likely be in testing for some time as Apple works on releasing new iPhones, with the new iPhones expected to debut sometime in October.
The second beta of iOS 14.2 introduces the new Emoji 13 characters that Apple previewed earlier this year as part of World Emoji Day.
New emoji options include ninja, people hugging, black cat, bison, fly, polar bear, blueberries, fondue, bubble tea, and more, with a list below.
Faces - Smiling Face with Tear, Disguised Face
People - Ninja, Person in Tuxedo, Woman in Tuxedo, Person with Veil, Man with Veil, Woman Feeding Baby, Person Feeding Baby, Man Feeding Baby, Mx. Claus, People Hugging
Body Parts - Pinched fingers, Anatomical Heart, Lungs
The update also features 55 gender and skin-tone variants, along with new gender-inclusive emojis that can be used as an alternative to gendered versions, such as person with veil and person with tuxedo rather than the current woman/man options.
As noted by Emojipedia, Apple previewed a handful of these emojis in July, but many of the new characters are being seen in their official form in the new beta.
After the Emoji 13 update, there will be a delay with Emoji 14 that will prevent the new emojis from being introduced in 2021. Emoji 14 will be released six months late, which means it likely won't be able to be added to smartphones until 2022. There is a stop-gap Emoji 13.1 update planned for 2021, but it mostly focuses on skin tone variations and only introduces a few new emoji that include face exhaling, face with spiral eyes, face in clouds, heart on fire, and mending heart.
Twitter says it's making its voice tweets feature available to more users on iOS. Launched in June for a limited number of users, voice tweets is designed to allow people to tweet with their voice, sending voice-based messages instead of text.
Voice tweets can be created by opening up the tweet composer and tapping the new wavelengths icon. A screen then opens with a user's Twitter icon, which can be tapped to begin a recording.
Twitter users can capture up to 140 seconds of audio, but continuous recording is possible and longer audio will create multiple voice tweets.
Listening to a voice tweet can be done by tapping on the image in the Twitter timeline. On iOS, playback starts in an audio player that's docked at the bottom of the timeline so users can continue to scroll through Twitter.
Transcription for audio and video is part of our larger plan to make Twitter accessible for everyone across all features, both existing and new.https://t.co/c9LTPiE003 (2/2) — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) September 29, 2020
Since their arrival on iOS, voice tweets have been criticized for lacking accessibility in the form of audio transcriptions. That criticism led Twitter employees to reveal they'd been asked to volunteer their time on top of their usual work to focus on accessibility.
The ensuing flak led Twitter to tell The Verge that it was exploring how to build a "more dedicated group" to focus on accessibility, and the company has since announced new two teams in that vein. Twitter subsequently said it plans to add automated captions to audio and video on the platform by "early 2021."
iOS 14 is particularly interesting because the biggest differences and additions seem, well, optional. I suggest trying them out and seeing which ones resonate. Not all of them did with me, but there are plenty worth trying.
Mat Smith / Engadget
The iPhone home screen hasn’t changed hugely since the original back in 2007; Rows of icons, set in a grid. You could change the order, but heaven forfend if you wanted an icon to float alone! They stayed where they were, left-aligned, uniform and boring. Folders gave you some agency but that was back in iOS 4. If you use everything that’s new in iOS 14, however, your home screen will never look the same again.
The new App Library (kinda like Android’s app drawer) stashes all your apps in an alphabetical list, just keep swiping right to access it. Great. Better still, you can now nix apps from those traditional home screens. The app still exists, it’s just not cluttering up your phone’s display. If you long-press on an app icon on the home screen, there’s a new option of moving it to the App Library instead of just deleting it or hiding it in a folder.
You can even banish app icons in bulk by disabling whole home screen pages. One long-press and you can edit away, tapping the dots at the bottom and unticking any home screens you don’t need anymore. It feels liberating. That said, you can also do none of this, and your iPhone will work like it’s still on iOS 13.
iOS 14 also adds a shortcut to finding the app you’re looking for, without typing its name into the search bar or scouring the new alphabetical app list. It creates its own categories to vaguely organize things. However, they’re really vague and seemingly random. Hinge goes into ‘Other’, while LinkedIn Jobs goes into ‘Social’? But it’s worth noting that sorting has already improved since the beta.
Once you’ve cleared away the useless apps you need but don’t need to see all the time, what do you do with the space? Apple has a few ideas.
Mat Smith / Engadget
Over the years, Google’s Android furnished smartphones with widgets of varying utility, and iOS mostly avoided it. We got drop-down menus for toggles, and a Today view that offered a limited widget experience if you swiped right beyond the main home screen.
But now iOS 14 has actual, real-deal widgets. And they’re pretty good. They come in a few sizes -- the smallest is a 2x2 square and the largest is a 4x4 square, with some horizontal options too, maxing out at a 4x2 rectangle. Apple is sticking to its grid, but at least there are some options now.
There are a couple of ways to add them to your newly liberated home screen. You can hold your finger on existing widgets in the Today feed, or hold down on any part of the home screen itself. All the apps will start to “jiggle”, and a plus symbol in the top right corner will take you to all the widgets your heart desires. At the moment, it’s centered mostly on Apple’s core apps and services, like calendar, reminders, music and the rest, but third-party apps are creeping in, like Google, Zero and Kayak. And expect more developers to get on board soon.
Widgets have their own ‘folder’ function, of a sort, called smart stacks, where you can overlap widgets of the same size. This means you can swipe through weather, fitness metrics, news headlines and more, without having to open an app. It’s an elegant way to stop them taking over the home screen, and a smart stack toggle will automatically cycle through the widgets based on time of day and what Siri’s learned of your iPhone usage patterns.
Mat Smith / Engadget
I’m really starting to like Siri Suggestions, not only how it informs the new smart stacks but elsewhere too. Siri Suggestions (which have been around since iOS 12) have improved a lot in iOS14 -- in that I’m noticing them and they’re actually helpful.
As the OS learns your routines, you get suggestions from Siri at the right time, in the right place. for just what you need. For me, that meant my workout timing app would pop up when I headed to my gym. It would also remind me to call or message my mum (mom?) in the late afternoon if I hadn’t already.
Beside Smart Stacks, there’s also a dedicated Siri Suggestions widget that, once you place it on your home screen looks like a normal group of eight apps. However, it's actually an automatically curated selection based on your own usage patterns. You might see Netflix and Kindle apps bubble up during your commute in the mornings (if you’re still commuting somewhere), while news or meditation apps might surface more frequently, in the same widget, later in the day.
You could, hypothetically, nix all your app shortcuts and let the wisdom of Siri decide which apps you and when. I ended up going for a 50:50 mixture of ‘manual apps’ I always want nearby, and Siri’s recommendations.
Siri has also been toned down from a fullscreen invasion to a floating orb in the lower part of the screen. Likewise, calls and connected Apple devices like AirPods, hover around the top half of the screen. It’s a subtle change, but a long-overdue one. Now calls don’t have to disrupt you in the middle of a game, or just as you’re wrapping up an email reply.
Mat Smith / Engadget
The iOS Messages app was also given plenty of attention this time around, and it needed it, to be honest. A lot of the features here you’ll have seen either in Android messages, WhatsApp, Telegram or whatever messaging app you’ve convinced everyone to use. So, if your life is centered around Messages, you’ll love what iOS 14 brings. If you’re not a user of the blue bubbles, however, all of this is not going to mean much.
In iOS 14, Messages has an improved filtering interface, making it easy to silo unknown contacts from your regular text friends. With “Filter Unknown Senders” enabled in iOS 14, you can go directly to the unknown senders to ensure you haven’t missed anything important, or focus on known folks. And for the people you most frequently message, you can now pin them to the top of your messages list, just by swiping right on it.
Another notable feature is inline replies. This means you can create sub-threads from any message, whether in one-on-one conversations or in group chat, where it’s eminently more useful. Long-press on any message and tap “reply” and it’ll spin itself out, showing the most recent message and a little bracket attached to it shows how many replies are connected. It does it all in a very apple, with polish. The ‘threaded’ chat will lift out from the main conversation, which will then blur out of focus. These are the classiest threaded messages I’ve ever seen.
In other ‘ugh finally’ features, you can create customized group chat names -- beyond a list of all the people in the group. Tap the icon at the top, tap info and you can change both the name and the photo of the group. Earth-shattering features they are not, but they add up to a better messaging experience that can better keep pace with the competition.
On that note, iOS 14 finally brings picture-in-picture (PiP) video playback -- a feature long coveted by iPhone users -- it’s been on Android phones for a while. Compatible video apps so far include Apple TV, FaceTime, Netflix, iTunes, and more -- though I had issues getting it to work with Safari. (Alas, PiP for YouTube is for Premium subscribers only.)
Expect this list to swell as apps are updated for iOS 14. It works by swiping up from the lower edge, which will take you out to the home screen. The now-floating video can then be resized between two presets, made fullscreen again, or swept aside to the edge, allowing the audio to continue playing, but keeping your phone screen clear for whichever app you wanted to use. The video can then be swiped back into frame. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m glad to see the feature here -- it shines most on the bigger iPhone models.
Another quiet but important upgrade is the ability to assign default web browsers and email apps. If you want to, that means you’d never have to open the native email app or Safari ever again. Firefox and Chrome are both options (as are Edge and DuckDuckGo), while Gmail, Outlook, Spark and more are now available as default mail apps.
They’re each simple enough to setup. Go inside Settings, find the app by typing its name into the search bar or scrolling through all your apps. Then, open the entry and you’ll see a “Default Browser App” option if it’s compatible. It’s hard to understate how much easier it’s made my iPhone life, knowing that links will automatically open inChrome (with my passwords and bookmarks integrated).
That said, there was a bug in this initial version of iOS 14 that resets preferences back to Safari if you reboot your device. Apple has since fixed this. Still, offering the ability to change these default apps is a big move for Apple -- offering the choice a lot of power users have craved.
Another welcome addition is Apple’s very own translation app, new for iOS 14. Translate works on-device (if you’ve downloaded the language files ahead of time) and covers English (US and UK), Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Arabic for now.
It works surprisingly well, capturing my middling Japanese and rudimentary French and German. There’s the ability to bookmark your most useful phrases and the mere convenience of some kind of translation without data needed, could make this a power travel assistant -- when we’re traveling again. Apple has made a few new additions to its devices that reflect the historic coronavirus outbreak, like mask coverings for your Animoji and, separately, watchOS 7’s hand washing timer.
Mat Smith / Engadget
Privacy is a major part of iOS 14. Some features have been delayed, but the new approach is demonstrated best in permission requests. There’s one when an app “would like to find and connect to local devices on your network” for smart home tech and streaming, a new one for photo access that lets you decide whether an app can access your entire camera roll, or specific images only.
The most effective restriction could be the new approximate location setting. When an app doesn’t really need pinpoint accuracy (like a restaurant reservation service) it will get a fuzzier location using data, WiFi and Bluetooth networks. Whatever you decide the first time around, it can be readjusted in each app’s listing inside settings.
****
What do those dots mean?
Mat Smith / Engadget
There are always one or two features that are never a big part of Apple’s presentation, press releases, or even the company’s own tips app. This time around, it’s pesky dots. They’re about privacy.
Floating next to your signal strength bar, you might occasionally spot a red or green dot. The red one indicates that you’re currently using an app that has access to your microphone. You’ll see it during any voice calls you make, or when an app requires voice input. A green dot, then, means something is using your camera. You’ll see it in Facetime, Zoom or Instagram for instance.
Report cards are the privacy feature that’s been delayed — these would spell out precisely what apps were tracking and gathering from your iOS device. They’ll arrive later this year, and we’ll take another look at them when they do. To be honest, this seemed like the strongest privacy feature for iOS 14.
For now, you can access a Privacy Report for Safari. It tells you which sites are tapping into most trackers, and exactly which trackers Safari has blocked. Tapping on the letters at the start of the address bar opens up the report. Naturally, if you’ve decided to swap your default web browser, you’ll miss out on this.
The rest
Given the big presentation at WWDC earlier this year, you might be surprised that I don’t have much to say about App Clips. That’s because I haven’t used them. Any of them. App Clips are snippets of apps that have tiny file sizes and can be temporarily installed. They can be initialized through NFC, QR codes, or even locations on Apple Maps or links shared on iMessage, In the US, you can order food from Panera Bread and not much else.
The posit is that these are streamlined, one-shot apps for lightweight tasks like buying things or registering your details. Typically they connect to Apple Pay and Sign In With Apple, streamlining things -- but helping to ensure that Apple is involved with app interactions even at this lightweight stage.
Expect to see plenty more App Clips for major service apps, where they make the most sense. For now, however, it’s not a big deal.
I also want to mention the new accessibility features in iOS 14. “Tap on the back“, buried in settings, can recognize double and triple taps on the back of the phone. These inputs can then be assigned to system controls, like volume, taking screenshots and even as shortcuts to the home screen or app switch, the latter of which I assigned to double-taps on the back. Additional new accessibility features include Sound Recognition which can detect a fire alarm or doorbell, and notify you and, incredibly sign language detection in Group FaceTime, which i haven’t been able to test out.
Wrap up
iOS 14 may not be groundbreaking but, if you embrace the new widgets and reassess how you use apps, iOS 14 is refreshing. Then there’s the ability to shed Safari and the native email app if you want too — hopefully Apple expands on this and offers similar default app flexibility elsewhere, say Maps or Notes.
Apple’s focus on privacy is incredibly user-friendly and mostly easy-to-explain, putting the focus back on app developers to reconsider what data they’re collecting from us.
What’s interesting is that you don’t even have to actually embrace a lot of these changes. They coexist with the old way of using iOS. And, you’ll probably be happy to hear that iOS 14 is compatible with all iPhones since the iPhone 6S, including both generations of the iPhone SE. Yes, five-year-old iPhones are still getting functionality boosts, which is impressive in its own right.
The changes are worth it, however. It’s time to get rid of your app grid.
Shortly after launching iOS 14, Apple introduced an upcoming iOS 14.2 update, which is now available to developers and public beta testers ahead of a public release that could come at some point in October.
The iOS 14.2 update mainly focuses on the Control Center, introducing a new Music Recognition toggle that deepens the Shazam integration in the iPhone and iPad. We thought we'd test out the new Shazam toggle in the Control Center in our latest YouTube video, giving those who haven't installed the beta a look at what it does.
For those unfamiliar with Shazam, it's designed to listen for music that's playing, providing a song title and artist for identification purposes. Apple's iPhones and iPads have long had Shazam integration, available through the Shazam app and by asking Siri to identify a song that's playing.
After years of Siri integration, Apple acquired Shazam in 2017, and the acquisition was finished in 2018, but until now, Apple hasn't made a move to make song recognition a system-level function.
iOS 14.2 adds a new "Music Recognition" toggle to the Control Center, which you can tap whenever music is playing to get a song recognition. Note that Music Recognition is distinct from Sound Recognition, an Accessibility feature introduced in iOS 14 to help those who are hard of hearing listen for sounds like alarms.
The Music Recognition toggle doesn't show up in Control Center by default (at least in the beta), but it can be enabled by opening up the Settings app, choosing Control Center, and then scrolling down and tapping the "+" button next to Music Recognition.
Tapping the Music Recognition button in Control Center will cause an iPhone or iPad to listen for a song that's playing, and when a song is recognized, you'll be notified through a pop up banner. Tapping the banner opens up Shazam, but a long press will give you the option to open the song right in Apple Music, which is handy for Apple Music subscribers.
Music Recognition works with songs playing in the ambient environment as well as songs playing on your iPhone. So if you're watching a video and want to know what song is in it, you can just tap the Music Recognition toggle to find out. It even works when AirPods are connected, so the sound doesn't need to be out loud. This was possible with a Siri command before, but the functionality is easier to use with the simple Control Center toggle.
Along with Music Recognition, there are a few other bonus tweaks in the iOS 14.2 update. The Now Playing interface in Control Center has been redesigned and now, when there's no music playing, it will show suggestions based on songs and albums that you've listened to recently. The design has also been streamlined, and if you want to AirPlay to other devices, there's now a little toggle to tap that brings up all nearby AirPlay 2 compatible devices in a list, rather than displaying them at all times in the widget.
iOS 14.2 also adds one more Accessibility feature, enhancing the Magnifier app on the iPhone. There's now an option to turn on People Detection in Magnifier, which lets the app detect people to let those with low sight know when someone is within six feet. The People Recognition option is also able to identify specific people that have been labeled in the Photos app using the iPhone's facial detection feature.
The iOS 14.2 update is available to both developers and public beta testers at this time, so anyone can test it out if desired. It is a beta, so expect some bugs. iOS 14.2 will likely be in beta testing for some time as we await new iPhones, with a launch perhaps coming later in October.
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