iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 beta 4 are now available to developers

Apple has released iOS 15.2 beta 4 and iPadOS 15.2 beta 4 to developers. The first beta was released just a day after iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 were released to the general public with SharePlay, ProRes, COVID-19 vaccination cards, and more.

The new beta release is available as an over-the-air update to developers who still had the beta profile installed on their iPhone and iPad. The update is around 800 MB in size for iPhone 12 Pro Max.

What’s new in iOS 15.2 beta and iPadOS 15.2 beta 4?

December 2: Apple has released beta 4 with a bunch of fixes for SwiftUI, HealthKit, and App Store, all aimed towards developers.

What’s new in iOS 15.2 beta and iPadOS 15.2 beta 3?

November 16: The release notes mention some known issues such as high CPU and battery usage when streaming in the Music app, and Health app freezing issues when vaccination records are not successfully imported to the Wallet app. However, Apple has included one useful change which is bulk editing for tags in the Reminders app:

New Features in iOS & iPadOS 15.2 beta 3
Tags can now be bulk renamed and deleted.

In iOS 15.2 beta 3, Apple has also removed iPhone 13 third-party screen replacement barrier as promised.

Apple also released the third public beta on the same day.

What’s new in iOS 15.2 beta and iPadOS 15.2 beta 2?

November 10: Apple has released the second public beta to testers.

November 9: The new beta brings along a number of new features and changes including:

Messages Communication Safety Feature for Kids in iMessage app. This Family Sharing feature can be enabled by parents, and will detect when nudity is detected in images that are shared in Messages. The images will be blurred and children will be alerted regarding their safety and the sensitivity of the content. The scanning and checks will be done on-device, and no information will be synced to the cloud. Unlike previously announced by Apple, parents will not be notified when this happens as the company removed the alerts based on user feedback.

iCloud+ subscribers can now access and use Hide My Email directly from the Mail app

Legacy Contacts has been added to iOS & iPadOS 15.2 beta 2, allowing users to designate people as legacy contacts for their accounts, as part of the Digital Legacy program.

In Safari 15 and 15.1, sync storage for Safari Web Extensions is no longer being written into the local storage area. Developers using sync storage can check for storage in the local storage area if they can’t find their data in the sync storage area and do a one-time migration.

What’s new in iOS 15.2 beta and iPadOS 15.2 beta?

October 28: Apple has released the first public beta to testers.

As per Apple’s release notes, the new update has two new features. The first feature is App Privacy Report, which was originally announced for iOS 15 but was later delayed.

New Features in iOS & iPadOS 15.2 beta
iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 introduced the Record App Activity feature in the privacy settings, allowing people to save a summary of sensor, data, and internet access by apps on their device.

In iOS 15.2 beta and iPadOS 15.2 Beta, this activity is presented in Settings in a new UI called App Privacy Report. This is a great opportunity to review your app’s sensor, data, and internet usage. To view your activity in the report, go to Settings > Privacy > App Privacy Report > Turn On App Privacy Report. Activity will show once you use your app. (78696668)

The other new feature is location emergency. This allows users to initiate an emergency call by holding the side button and volume button or rapidly pressing the side button. There will be an 8-second countdown before the emergency call is placed.

New Features in iOS & iPadOS 15.2 beta
Auto Call can now be set up to use one of two methods for initiating an emergency call: holding the side button together with a volume button, or rapidly pressing the side button multiple times. Both methods now show a longer, 8-second countdown before placing an emergency call. (84620050)

iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 compatible devices

iOS 15.2 beta and iPadOS 15.2 beta are compatible with the following devices:

iPhone 6s and later
iPad Pro (all models)
iPad Air 2 and later
iPad 5th generation and later
iPad mini 4 and later
iPod touch (7th generation)

Upgrade to iOS 15.2 and iPadOS.2 15 beta

The new beta updates can be downloaded and installed by signing up with Apple Developer Center which costs $99/year. This allows users to download the beta profile to enroll their iPhone or iPad. Once the profile is downloaded to your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings and install it. You will be asked to restart your device. Once done, go to Settings > General > Software Update and you will see the new iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 beta for download. Before starting the download process, make sure that your device has at least 50% battery charge, and is connected to a reliable Wi-Fi network.

Users can also install the new beta update by downloading the IPSW file from Apple Developer Center to restore it to on their iPhone and iPad. Connect the device to a Mac or Windows PC using a cable, open up the Files app (in macOS) or iTunes (in Windows), and restore the IPSW file by clicking on the restore button while holding down the Option key (or Shift key on Windows).