Apple had a big night at Cupertino last evening, where it made sure to stress on its big focus on services. Not only did the company launch its much awaited TV streaming service in the form of Apple TV+, it also added magazine subscriptions in Apple News, introduced a game subscription service called Apple Arcade and showcased a slick new credit card with no late fee and penalties called the Apple Card.
Meanwhile, a new iOS update flew in under the radar, bringing with it support for the new Apple News+ in the countries that the service is available. Apple has released iOS 12.2 for iPhones, iPads and iPods. Besides adding support for Apple News+, the update brings a bunch of new features and bug fixes.
To start with, iOS 12.2 adds the ability to ask Siri to play any video, programme, film, sports game or channel on Apple TV from any iOS device. The new feature will further enhance the usability of the Apple TV app and Apple TV+ service.
Apple has added four new Animoji including – Owl, Boar, Giraffe and Shark. These will be available on iPhone X and later device, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd Gen) and iPad Pro 11-inch.
Apple has added dedicated TV controls to iOS in the Control Centre with the new iOS 12.2 update. These will be available on the lock screen to give users quick access. Multitasking has also been added to Airplay, allowing users to browse other apps, as well as play other short form videos and audio files locally on their devices, without interruption in Airplay.
Apple Pay Cash customers can now transfer money to their bank accounts using their Visa debit cards. The Wallet app will now display Apple pay Credit and Debit transactions below the card.
After updating to iOS 12.2, users can configure Downtime with a different schedule for each day of the month. There’s a new toggle which will enable turning app limits on and off temporarily.
Website sign-in on the Safari browser will happen automatically once credentials are filled with Password AutoFill. Safari will also warn users when they open unencrypted web pages. Apple has also added Intelligent Tracking Prevention to Safari to prevent cross-site tracking. Smart Search queries can now be modified by tapping on the arrow icon next to search suggestions.
The browse tab on Apple music will now show more editorially picked highlights on a single page. Apple says this will help users discover new music and playlists more easily.
With iOS 12.2, Apple has added support for AirPods (2nd Gen). The new AirPods were unveiled just a few days ago and will be available this spring starting at Rs 14,900.
Alongside all these additions, the iOS 12.2 update also adds support for Air Quality Index in Apple Maps in India, US and UK. The update further improves quality of audio recordings in Messages, improves performance of Apple TV remote, fixes issues with notifications Centre, and addresses other bugs.