Apple has today released iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 to compatible devices in the stable channel. The new update weighs in around 1.02GB on my iPhone XR and brings a bunch of new things to iPhones and iPads. Here are the big ones.
There are 117 new emoji in iOS 14.2, including options for gender-inclusive emoji among other things. Moreover, iOS 14.2 brings support for the LiDAR enabled feature that lets iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max users detect people nearby and find out the distance between them.
There’s also intercom support for HomePod and HomePod Mini, the ability to connect HomePod to Apple TV 4K, new AirPlay controls and more.
As is usual with software updates, there are a bunch of bug fixes here as well including fixes for camera viewfinder showing up black, keyboard missing touches on the lock screen, and a plethora of other fixes.
More importantly though, iOS 14.2 fixes a couple of major security vulnerabilities that are actually being exploited by bad actors in the wild. Ben Hawkes, the technical lead of Google’s Project Zero shared this information in a tweet, pointing out the three issues that Apple has fixed with this update.
If you are looking for the complete iOS 14.2 changelog, I have pasted it down below:
- Over 100 new emoji, including animals, food, faces, household objects, musical instruments, gender-inclusive emoji and more
- Eight new wallpapers in both light and dark mode versions
- Magnifier can detect people nearby, and report their distance using the LiDAR sensor included in iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
- Support for iPhone 12 Leather Sleeve with MagSafe
- Optimised battery charging for AirPods to slow the rate of battery ageing by reducing the time your AirPods spend fully charged
- Headphone audio level notifications to alert you when audio level could impact your hearing
- New AirPlay controls to stream entertainment throughout your home
- Intercom support with HomePod and HomePod mini using iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods and CarPlay
- Ability to connect HomePod to Apple TV 4K for stereo, surround sound and Dolby Atmos audio
- Option to provide statistics about Exposure Notifications, without identifying you, to participating Public Health Authorities
This release also fixes the following issues:
- Apps could be out of order on the Home Screen dock
- Camera viewfinder may appear black when launched
- The keyboard on the Lock Screen could miss touches when trying to enter the passcode
- Reminders could default to times in the past
- Photos widget may not display content
- Weather widget could display the high temperature in Celsius when set to Fahrenheit
- Next-hour precipitation chart description in Weather could incorrectly indicate when precipitation stops
- Voice Memos recordings are interrupted by incoming calls
- The screen could be black during Netflix video playback
- Apple Watch app may unexpectedly close when opened
- Workout GPS routes or Health data are prevented from syncing between Apple Watch and iPhone for some users
- Audio is incorrectly labelled as “Not Playing” in the CarPlay Dashboard
- Devices could be prevented from charging wirelessly
- Exposure Notifications is disabled when restoring iPhone from iCloud Backup or transferring data to a new iPhone using iPhone Migration
