The second public beta for iOS 11.2 is available for download right now, and it brings one very important “feature” for iOS public beta users: a fix for the awful autocorrect bug. For the last couple days, some iOS 11 users have been plagued by a bug that autocorrects “I” to a missing character. iOS 11 public beta 2 should fix that bug, according to what we’ve heard from rumors and the last developer beta.
The latest version of iOS has been autocorrecting “I” and changing it to the letter “A” followed by two spaces and a symbol that shows a question mark in a box, with the bug affecting most users running iOS 11.1 and iOS 11. The bug was patched in the most recent developer beta, and now it’s making its way to the public beta starting today.
Arguably more exciting is a legitimate new feature being rolled out today: Apple Pay Cash. Apple first announced its peer-to-peer payment system back at WWDC in May, but it’s taken this long to get it prepped. Apple Pay Cash will let anyone send money to friends via the Apple Pay mechanism, using credit cards and Touch ID or Face ID for authentication. Basically think Venmo, but faster.
Payments can be made via debit cards or credit cards that you have already set up in the Wallet app. Debit card transactions are free, while credit card transfers incur a small fee. Rather than transferring directly between debit cards, what happens is that the sender uses their debit or credit card to buy an Apple Pay Cash card. That Apple Pay Cash is then sent to the sender, who can either use the money to buy things with Apple Pay (including physical transactions in store), or can deposit the money into a bank account with a waiting period.
Right now, both devices need to be running iOS 11.2 beta (developer or public) in order to use the peer-to-peer Apple Pay Cash. Payments can be done through Messages, Siri, or the Contacts app. It’s only available in the US, and requires 2-factor authentication to be turned on. It will also only work on an iPhone 6 or newer, or an iPad Air 2 or newer.
The public beta is available as an over-the-air download right now for anyone already enrolled in the public beta channel.
Wondering which devices are compatible with iOS 11.2 beta 2? Here’s the complete list:
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 5s
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2nd generation
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro 1st generation
- 10.5-inch iPad Pro
- 9.7-inch iPad Pro
- iPad Air 2
- iPad Air
- iPad 5th generation
- iPad mini 4
- iPad mini 3
- iPad mini 2
- iPod touch 6th generation
