Apple has released beta 2 to developers of its flagship operating systems for iOS 12, tvOS 12, macOS 10.14 and watchOS two weeks after its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) where it released the first beta’s to developers. It’s hard to predict when we’ll see a public beta of the various OS’s this early in the release cycle. It’s more likely that these will appear later in the beta lifecycle as stability increases and Apple lock down features and its UI. As expected, Beta 2 introduces a number of changes and refinements to the features introduced in the beta 1 releases. Notable new features in iOS 12 beta 2 Battery Usage - features redesigned charts and wording - features redesigned charts and wording Screen Time - features some UI tweaks and you now have the ability to view Screen Time By Device - facilitated via Family Sharing - features some UI tweaks and you now have the ability to view Screen Time By Device - facilitated via Family Sharing Notifications - You can now toggle Siri Suggestions for individual apps via the Notifications section of the Settings app. - You can now toggle Siri Suggestions for individual apps via the Notifications section of the Settings app. Password Autofill - Tweaked UI for autofilling a password from iCloud Keychain. - Tweaked UI for autofilling a password from iCloud Keychain. Face ID - iPhone X now says "Scanning with Face ID” when unlocking content using Face ID. - iPhone X now says "Scanning with Face ID” when unlocking content using Face ID. Photos - Readability improvements by increasing the text size for the "Media Types" and "Albums" listings in the Photos app. - Readability improvements by increasing the text size for the "Media Types" and "Albums" listings in the Photos app. iPhone apps on iPad - iPhone apps on iPad now displayed in a modern device size (iPhone 6) improving usability. - iPhone apps on iPad now displayed in a modern device size (iPhone 6) improving usability. New Apple Watch identifiers referenced - Referenced model numbers include MTUD2, MTUK2, MTX92 and more! Notable new features in watchOS 5 beta 2 The major change in watchOS 5 beta 2 is that the Walkie-Talkie feature is now available. Using FaceTime Audio protocols, Walkie-Talkie allows you to select a contact to initiate a conversation with. Once they accept, it’s simply a case of holding down the talk button to chat. The same goes for the person on the other end. Podcasts - now work. Notable new features in tvOS 12 beta 2 Dolby Atmos support now available within settings: Settings>Video and Audio>Surround Sound>Spatial Audio: Dolby Atmos On Still no sign of the new Arial screensaver from the International Space Station or the ability for Siri to provide the location of the current Arial screensaver on show. Notable new features in macOS 10.14 beta 2 We’re not currently aware of any notable new features in MacOS 10.14 beta 2. We’re currently in the process of installing iOS 12 beta 2 and we’ll be bringing you our hands-on of iOS 12 beta 2 shortly. Source<doc-sep>After appearing as a placeholder in the initial iOS 12 developer beta, Walkie-Talkie is now functional in iOS 12 beta 2. After testing it I was able to add new contacts, accept new contact requests, and both send and receive audio messages. Watch our hands-on walkthrough for a look at what to expect from this exciting new Apple Watch feature. When you launch the Walkie-Talkie app on your Apple Watch, you’ll be met with a scrollable list of all of your contacts. Simply tap on a contact to request Walkie-Talkie access to that contact. The recipient, if running a compatible version of watchOS, will then receive a request stating that the contact wants to talk with you over Walkie-Talkie. Recipients have the option to Always Allow or Dismiss the request. Video walkthrough Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more videos Once a contact is added to your list of Walkie-Talkie recipients, the same contact will appear in the paired iPhone’s Watch app under the Walkie-Talkie panel. Users can delete a recipient via the Watch app, or via simple swipe gesture on the contact card within the Walkie-Talkie app on Apple Watch. The Walkie-Talkie app interface on Apple Watch is extremely simple and easy to use. Bright yellow contact cards appear for each Walkie-Talkie recipient, along with a bright yellow plus button below your list of cards to add additional contacts. As mentioned, a simple left swipe gesture on a contact card will reveal a red ‘x’ for quickly deleting a contact. Scrolling up to the very top of the Walkie-Talkie interface will reveal an Available toggle, for quickly turning the Walkie-Talkie feature on an off. If you’re in a place where it’s not practical to engage in conversation, then the Available toggle is a handy one. When you switch to unavailable mode, the Walkie-Talkie contact cards will change from bright yellow to gray, but tapping one of the cards will immediate switch availability back to on. When you tap on a contact card, you’ll be taken to the talk screen, which allows you to facilitate conversation. A huge TALK button dominates the Apple Watch display. To send a message, simply press and hold the talk button for the duration that you wish to speak. Once you’re finished speaking, release the button and your message will be sent to the recipient. Received Walkie-Talkie messages are automatically played upon receipt via the Apple Watch speaker, similar to a real Walkie-Talkie, or one of those old Nextel phones. It’s a really cool way to engage in “in the moment” conversation with your friend. Volume can be adjusted from the talk screen by turning the Digital Crown up and down. Of course, if you want some privacy, it’s also possible to engage in Walkie-Talkie conversation via AirPods or other connected Bluetooth headphones or speakers. One thing that’s a bit weird when using AirPods is that there is a slight static sound in the background that’s almost like you’re on a phone call. This makes sense, considering that Walkie-Talkie uses FaceTime as a backbone for its conversations. A shortcut to the Walkie-Talkie app appears at the top of every watch face while the app is being used, allowing you to quickly get back to the app with just a tap. Even when you force close the app, it’ll automatically open if you receive a new Walkie-Talkie message. Watch the video above for a demonstration of that in action. Walkie-Talkie works via iPhone connection, and Wi-Fi. As a Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE owner, I also tested out Walkie-Talkie via cellular and it worked as well! Walkie Talkie was first introduced during the initial unveiling of Apple’s wearable, but it’s just now appearing on the Apple Watch with watchOS 5 beta 2. Functionality is a bit finicky at this stage, but that’s to be expected given that it’s a beta. It’s been a long time coming, but after testing it out for a few an hour or so, I couldn’t help but smile at how easy it was to use, and how it really puts you in the moment. It may have taken Walkie-Talkie a few years to get here, but it appears that it was worth the wait. What do you think about Walkie-Talkie on Apple Watch? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:<doc-sep>
Two weeks after the initial — and surprisingly solid — beta of iOS 12, comes the second update. iOS 12 beta 2 has tweaked the operating system in several places, mostly in Screen Time, which was quite sparse in the first round. Let’s take a look at what’s changed. Screen Time changes Screen Time, the feature that tracks how much you use each app on your iPhone or iPad, gets a new startup screen the first time you use it, as seen above. Along with the battery screen, the look has changed slightly, but the information available is the same. Most noteworthy is that you can now view the aggregated Screen Time data from across all your devices, or use a drop-down to pick individual devices — these include any iOS device that is tied to your own iCloud account (and running iOS 12 beta, of course). In beta 1, if you tapped on one of the “categories” of app to further drill down and see your usage, nothing happened. There was no way to see which apps were in your “entertainment” category, for example, let alone any details on their usage. Now, in iOS 12 beta 2, you’ll see a screen like this: Tap on one of those apps, and you’ll see this screen: Battery changes The Battery section in settings also gets a lick of paint. Not only is the battery level chart now color-coded, but the Activity section is now broken into one-hour slots instead of three-hour slots, letting you get a much more accurate picture of your usage. Keychain password autofill Password Autofill in Safari gets a nice new interface, and you can easily tap to see a list of alternative logins — if you have several Twitter accounts, for example. Voice Memos Launching Voice Memos shows you a nice new splash screen, just like the ones which show up in the iWork apps after a significant update. Functionally, the app appears identical. New Siri Suggestions section In the Notifications section of the Settings app, there’s a new Siri Suggestions section. This is a list of every app on your device, along with a switch to toggle whether or not it will appear in Siri’s suggestions. Previously you could achieve the same from a list inside the Siri & Search settings. In fact, you can still access the setting from there, suggesting that this may be a transition from one to the other: iPhone apps on iPad Mark this one as “finally.” Now, when you fire up an iPhone-only app on your iPad, instead of getting an iPhone 4-sized window showing the app, you now get a proper modern-iPhone-sized window. There are multiple other tweaks to UI elements and so on, but nothing I’ve found so far that is worthy writing about. Well, there’s one thing: whenever I unlock my iPhone with Touch ID, it now vibrates with haptic feedback when it never did before.