Everything New in iOS 12.2: HomeKit TV Support, Redesigned Remote, Safari Updates and More

Apple today released the first beta of iOS 12.2 for developers, and while it doesn't bring as many new changes as we might have hoped for in a 12.x update, there are still quite a few minor tweaks to be aware of.

Below, we've listed all of the new features and changes that we've discovered in iOS 12.2 so far, and we'll update this post should any additional features be found.

- Apple News for Canada - iOS 12.2 expands the availability of Apple News to Canada for the first time, with news sources available in either English or French.

- HomeKit TV Support - Apple recently announced that HomeKit support is coming to a number of third-party TVs, and iOS 12.2 introduces the infrastructure to allow users to add their TVs to HomeKit.

- Home Controls for TVs - Open up the Home app, tap the house-shaped icon in the upper left, choose 'Home Settings' and you'll see an updated section for 'Allow Speaker & TV Access,' which was previously just 'Allow Speaker Access.' This setting lets you choose who can access and send content to your speakers and TVs.

- Redesigned TV Remote - The TV Remote feature in Control Center has been redesigned with a more streamlined look that takes advantage of the entire display and does away with the large Home button.

Old remote on left, new remote on right

- New Screen Mirroring Icon - There's a redesigned Screen Mirroring icon in the Control Center that features two displays rather than a single display and an arrow.

Old design on left, new design on right

- Wallet - The Wallet interface has been slightly tweaked when viewing a single card within the Wallet app. The info button has been relocated to the top, and there's now a 'Done' button instead of an option to tap other cards at the bottom of the app. Transaction information is now listed more clearly, with a longer history available. The main wallet interface is largely unchanged, but the '+' button to add a new card is now black instead of blue.

New design on left, old design on right

- Apple Pay Cash - There's an 'Add Money' option in Wallet when you select the Apple Pay Cash card. Before, you needed to go into the more detailed Apple Pay Cash view to add money to the card.

New design on left, old design on right

- New AirPlay icon - Some users are seeing a new AirPlay icon when AirPlaying to certain devices.

- Safari search arrows - When entering a search term or website in the main bar in Safari, under the 'Google Search' autofill section, there are now little blue arrows. Tapping an arrow adds the text to the search field, so you can get more targeted search results with just a few taps. In prior versions of Safari, tapping on a Google Search result simply conducted the search.

- Unsecure websites - Sites that do not use a secure HTTPS connection are now prominently listed as 'Not Secure' in the Safari menu bar. There was a 'Not Secure' feature in prior versions of iOS, but it only showed up on pages requesting a password or credit card. Now any unencrypted site shows the 'Not Secure' heading.

- Air Quality in Maps - In the Maps app, there's a new option to display Air Quality alongside weather readings. It can be activated in the Maps section of the Settings app.

- Downtime in Screen Time - When using the Downtime feature in Screen Time, you can set Downtime options on a day by day basis. Prior to iOS 12.2, you weren't able to select specific days and times to activate Downtime.

There are some known issues and bugs in the iOS 12.2 beta that users should be aware of. Some iPad and iPhone owners have run into an Apple Pay issue after installing the beta, where Apple Pay says that an update is required to work.

Apple's release notes also list several issues, with workarounds available. Users may be unable to authenticate in Apple Pay within Wallet after selecting a card. Apple suggests on Touch ID iPhones, that Apple Pay users double-click on the Home button when the iPhone is locked, select the desired card in Wallet, and then authenticate before holding the iPhone near the reader.

On Face ID devices, Apple recommends double clicking the side button, choosing the desired card, and then authenticating via Face ID before holding the iPhone near the reader.

Apple says that iOS 12.2 users may be unable to purchase prepaid data plans using cellular data, and that a Wi-Fi connection should be used instead. Siri is also not working with iOS simulators.

iOS 12.2 is limited to developers at the current time, but Apple should soon be providing a beta to its public beta testers.Related Roundup: iOS 12This article, "Everything New in iOS 12.2: HomeKit TV Support, Redesigned Remote, Safari Updates and More" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums