Apple releases fifth developer beta of iOS 12.2

In the early morning of March 12, Apple officially released the fifth developer beta of the iOS 12.2 operating system. This update was released about a week after the fourth developer beta of iOS 12.2, and the update time period is within the normal range. The version number of the fifth beta of iOS 12.2 is 16E5223a, while the previous fourth version number was 16E5212f.

Now, if you are a developer and have a developer account, the complete firmware package of the iOS 12.2 operating system beta 5 developer test system can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center. Of course, iOS devices that are already in the developer beta state can also be directly updated through OTA if the correct configuration file has been installed.

The iOS 12.2 developer beta does not have many eye-catching updates. For example, starting from the first beta, Apple has updated Apple News and expanded its coverage to local users. Local users can already use the Apple News app normally through iPhone and iPad because it supports both English and French. However, Apple said that during the testing period, the content that can be read or updated is very limited.

The update that may be more relevant to Chinese people is the update of emojis. In the iOS 12.2 beta, Apple provides four new Animojis for the system, including wild boar, shark, giraffe and owl. However, as Animoji, they can generally only be used in iMessage or FaceTime applications in the Apple ecosystem.

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Apple will also improve the AirPlay 2 settings in the new beta system, mainly because more and more third-party TVs are beginning to introduce support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, so Apple will provide some new options for TV access to these two features in the Home app. Not only that, Apple will also redesign the TV remote control in the control center, making it easier to control the TV when paired with the iOS 12.2 system, and allowing users to more easily access HomeKit devices through Siri, including playing specific TV shows, movies, and music.

In the update introduction of iOS 12.2, for users of the US AT&T operator, the cellular network signal display will provide a new "5G E" icon, replacing the previous standard LTE icon. It has to be said that this is a bit misleading. After all, no iPhone supports 5G, and AT&T's "5G E" network is not a real 5G network. In fact, this network is just an upgraded version of LTE, and the theoretical download speed can reach up to 400Mb/s.

In addition, the interface of the Wallet app will be simplified and adjusted in the update, and a new function has been added to the Screen Time function that allows users to customize the number of days to stop. Other detailed updates are mainly aimed at icon design, including minor revisions to icons such as Apple News and AirPlay. Of course, Safari has also added some new features in iOS 12.2, such as auto-fill suggestions for Google searches.

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Anyway, the above are just the updates of iOS 12.2, not limited to the fifth developer beta. Many of the updates have been mentioned before, including the "Hey Siri" function that may support the second-generation AirPods by default. It has been rumored that Apple will hold a press conference on March 25, and it is expected that Apple will officially announce the updates of the official version of iOS 12.2 on that day, and will release new iPad hardware products.

In other words, the main task of every iOS beta is to fix and improve common bugs, optimize the stability and fluency of the system version, etc. However, any iOS beta test version is still in the testing stage as its name suggests. In most cases, the running effect may not be as ideal as the official version, and it is normal to have bugs, and even extremely unstable or data loss. Therefore, whether you need to upgrade should be carefully considered, and whether it is worth trying depends on your personal willingness.

Therefore, if your iPhone or iPad device is the main device for daily use, it is recommended not to try it out. However, if you are interested in beta testing, or the device you are testing is not your main device, it is best to create a complete backup through iTunes before trying it out, at least iCloud backup or backup of important data.

In iOS 12.2 Public Beta 5, if you need to set up a new Apple Watch, Apple will require location information verification, especially SIM card-based location information, which is basically impossible to bypass. The main reason is that the ECG electrocardiogram function can only be used in specific areas. Currently, Apple only provides this feature in the United States.