Apple releases iOS 12.2 update

Apple’s long-awaited iOS 12.2 update hit yesterday, complete with a ton of new features, changes, and fixes, including access to Apple’s News+ subscription service for publications.

The update, which weighs in as a hefty download, offers the following fixes and changes:

Apple News+:

Apple News+ is a new subscription service that extends the Apple News experience with hundreds of magazines and top newspapers.Handpicked top articles and magazine issues along with personalized recommendations on the topics most interesting to you.Automatic downloads for magazines for offline reading.Available in Canada, with a free experience that includes handpicked Top Stories, a personalized Today feed, and support for both English and French.Available in the U.S. and in Canada, with dozens of additional Canadian magazines.Free 1-month trial, $9.99 a month thereafter.

Animoji:

Four new Animoji characters, including a giraffe, shark, owl, and warthog.

AirPods:

Support for new 2nd-generation AirPods.

Apple Music:

The Browse tab makes it easier to discover new music, playlists, by showing more editorial highlights on a single page.

AirPlay:

Control Center and the Lock screen now feature dedicated quick-access TV controls.AirPlay multitasking —  browse other apps, as well as play other short form audio and video files locally on your device without interrupting AirPlay.AirPlay destinations now grouped by content type, which makes it faster to find a destination device.

Apple Pay:

Apple Pay Cash customers can now transfer money to their bank accounts instantly using their Visa debit cards.Wallet app now displays Apple Pay credit and debit transactions right below the card.

Safari:

Website sign-in now occurs automatically after filling credentials with Password AutoFill.Warnings now appear when loading unencrypted webpages.Removes support for the expired Do Not Track standard to prevent potential use as a fingerprinting variable. Intelligent Tracking Prevention now protects against cross-site tracking by default.Smart Search Field queries can now be modified by tapping the arrow icon next to search suggestions.

Screen Time:

Downtime can be configured with a different schedule for each day of the week.A new toggle enables easily turning app limits on or off temporarily.

Siri:

Ask Siri on your iPhone or iPad to play any video, show, movie, sports game, or channel on Apple TV. For example, “Hey Siri, play Spiderman: Enter the SpiderVerse on Office TV.”

Additional bug fixes and improvements:

Supports Air Quality Index in Maps for US, UK, and India.Includes information in Settings on how much time remains on your device’s warranty period.Supports real-time text (RTT) for phone calls made through a nearby iPhone on iPad and iPod Touch.Displays a “5G E” icon for iPhone 8 and later, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) or iPad Pro 11-inch indicating that users are in an area where AT&T’s 5G Evolution network is available.Improves quality of audio recordings in Messages.Improves stability and performance of Apple TV Remote on iOS.Fixes an issue that prevented some missed calls from appearing in Notification Center.Addresses an issue where a badge notification could appear on Settings even though no action is needed.Addresses an issue in Settings > General > iPhone Storage where the storage size of some large apps, the System category, and the Other category in the storage bar graph could be incorrect.Fixes an issue that could cause Voice Memos to automatically play back recordings after connecting to a car Bluetooth device.Resolves an issue that could cause Voice Memos to temporarily prevent renaming a recording.

If you’ve installed iOS 12.2 on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and have any feedback to offer, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

Via 9to5Mac