Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Apple just released iOS 8.2 beta 3

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 8:54PM EST
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

If you’re a developer — or one of the tens of thousands of non-developers with an iOS developer account — we have some good news for you: Apple just released a new version of its iOS software. iOS 8.2 beta 3 is now available as an over-the-air (OTA) download for users with compatible devices.

UPDATE: The full iOS 8.2 beta 3 change log has been added at the bottom of this post.

The software isn’t yet available as a download through Apple’s iOS developer portal, but it should be added to the site shortly.

As far as changes go, this is likely a minor update with fixes for some of the bugs that were present in iOS 8.2 beta 2. We’ll update this post with specific changes as soon as details are available.

iOS 8.2 beta 3 is compatible with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPad mini, third-generation iPad, iPad 2 and fifth-generation iPod touch.

Here are the full iOS 8.2 beta 3 release notes:

Notes and Known Issues

The following issues relate to using iOS SDK 8.2 to develop code.

CloudKit

Note

A single CKAsset instance can no longer be set as a value on multiple CKRecords.

Document Providers

Notes

  • Your app needs the iCloud entitlement to be able to be used as a document provider.

  • The com.apple.developer.icloud-container-identifiers entitlement is required.

Known Issues

  • After rotating the document picker to landscape, the status bar is hidden.

  • Upon bringing up the document picker in landscape, the containing view may be shifted beneath the navigation bar.

App Extensions

Notes

  • App extensions need an arm64 slice to run on 64-bit devices. If you try to run the armv7 slice on a 64-bit device it won’t work.

  • Apps need to have an arm64 slice if the bundle contains a framework that both the app and the app extension link against.

File System

Note

The file system layout of app containers has changed on disk. Rather than relying on hard-coded directory structure, use the NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains function or the URLForDirectory:inDomain:appropriateForURL:create:error:method of the NSFileManager class. See Accessing Files and Directories in File System Programming Guide.

Fonts

Note

The Thai system font has increased in size to improve readability. This will cause clipping in many places in your UI if you don’t take appropriate action:

  1. Use UILabel as much as possible. If you use Interface Builder, make sure that Clip Subviews is not checked. UIKit will grow the clipping region as necessary to not clip text.

  2. Use Dynamic Type. This will ensure that you do not have overlapping glyphs in multiline labels or text fields.

If you can’t do 1 and 2 because you implement your own views, you must implement measures not to clip. You can use CoreText to figure out the appropriate clipping region for a line of text by calling:

CTLineGetBoundsWithOptions(lineRef, kCTLineBoundsIncludeLanguageExtents);

To avoid overlapping glyphs in multiline text elements, adjust the line height. An additional 30% is recommended.

This measure will also help your app perform better in other languages, including Arabic, Hindi, and Vietnamese.

iCloud

Note

Mail handoff and AirDrop may stop working after changing your iCloud password at appleid.apple.com.

Workaround: Sign out and back into iCloud on the device.

iCloud Drive

Note

URLForUbiquityContainerIdentifier: might return nil when running your application in Xcode. If so, open System Preferences, navigate to iCloud > iCloud Drive, and enable Xcode.

Messages

Fixed in Beta 3

Your device may get into a state where tapping into Messages conversations can take a long time.

Notification Center

Note

The schedule and intended use of widgetPerformUpdateWithCompletionHandler: is intended as a convenient home for all data/model update logic. If implemented, the system will call at opportune times for the widget to update its state, both when Notification Center is visible, as well as in the background. An implementation is required to enable background updates. It’s expected that the widget will perform the work to update asynchronously and off the main thread as much as possible. Widgets should call the argument block when the work is complete, passing the appropriate NCUpdateResult. Widgets should NOT block returning from viewWillAppear: on the results of this operation. Instead, widgets should load cached state inviewWillAppear: in order to match the state of the view from the last viewWillDisappear:, then transition smoothly to the new data when it arrives.

NSURLSession

Note

The NSURLSessionTask class provides a new “priority” property with three associated constants: NSURLSessionTaskPriorityDefault, NSURLSessionTaskPriorityLow, and NSURLSessionTaskPriorityHigh. NSURLSessionTask priorities can be used to specify how multiple requests and responses to the same host should be prioritized. Note that the priority is a hint and not a strict guarantee of NSURLSessionTask performance.

For complete usage details of NSURLSessionTask priorities, refer to the NSURLSession.h header file, which is provided by the Foundation framework.

Phone

Note

To activate Wi-Fi Calling functionality for T-Mobile (U.S. only), follow these steps:

  • Go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling.

  • Toggle the Wi-Fi Calling switch to ON.

  • If the carrier does not have the user’s registered emergency address, you will be asked to add it before the feature is activated.

Photos

Notes

  • Maintain a backup of your photo library before enabling and while using iCloud Photo Library beta by:

    • Importing to your Mac using iPhoto

    • Importing to your Mac using Image Capture

  • iCloud Photo Library beta will not download photos and videos that were synced to your device from iTunes. Any photos and videos synced to your device from iTunes will be removed when you enable iCloud Photo Library beta.

  • iPhoto for iOS will not launch on iOS 8 beta. Launching Photos.app will migrate your iPhoto edits to the iOS 8 Photo Library. Make sure your iPhoto for iOS data is included in your device backup.

  • The ability to automatically optimize device space is enabled for all accounts larger than 5GB.

  • When using iCloud Family Sharing, both iCloud Photo Sharing and My Photo Stream are enabled.

Provisioning Profiles

Known Issue

If you have upgraded to the 8.2 beta from previous iOS 8 betas you may see your apps crashing due to provisioning profile issues.

Workaround:

  1. Connect the device via USB to your Mac.

  2. Launch Xcode.

  3. Choose Window > Devices.

  4. Right click on the device in left column, choose “Show Provisioning Profiles”.

  5. Click on the provisioning profile in question.

  6. Press the “-” button.

  7. Continue to removing all affected profiles.

  8. Re-install the app.

UIKit

Notes

  • UILabel has a default value of YES for clipsToBounds. This differs from the normal UIView default of NO.

  • The leftLayoutGuide and rightLayoutGuide APIs have been removed. Please use the layoutMargins property instead.

WatchKit

Notes

  • The WKInterfaceMap API has changed. Specifically, setMapRect: and setCoordinateRegion: have been replaced by setVisibleMapRect: and setRegion: respectively.

  • The WKInterfaceController method initWithContext: has been deprecated. Please use awakeWithContext: instead. The designated initializer for WKInterfaceController is now init.

  • The WKInterfaceDevice API has changed. Specifically, addCachedImage:name: and addCachedImageWithData:name: now return BOOL to indicate the success or failure of adding an image to the cache. Note that these methods return NO if the cache size has reached its limit. Delete images from the cache by calling removeCachedImageWithName: or removeAllCachedImages.

  • A page-based WatchKit app can dynamically resequence the pages at the root level using reloadRootControllersWithNames:contexts:.

  • Rows in a WKInterfaceTable now have a default appearance. This appearance can be overridden by specifying the values for background color, margin, corner radius, and height for the row in Interface Builder.

Fixed in Beta 3

  • In iOS Simulator, the Emoji button should now be visible, regardless of the selected input mode.

  • The WKInterfaceController method openParentApplication:reply: now launches the containing app in the background when the iPhone (or iOS Simulator) is unlocked or locked.

  • The WKInterfaceController method presentTextInputControllerWithSuggestions:completion: is now fully supported in iOS Simulator.

Known Issue

  • Inserting, deleting, or updating rows of a WKInterfaceTable may cause the table to temporarily size incorrectly. Scrolling your interface controller should restore the table to the proper size.

Wi-Fi Calling (T-Mobile US only)

Note

The carrier name in the status bar will show “T-Mobile Wi-Fi” when the device is able to make and receive Wi-Fi calls.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.