Apple seeds new betas for iOS, macOS Sierra and tvOS

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iPhone 7
iOS 10.2 brings new wallpapers to iPhone 7.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The third beta build of iOS 10.2 is now available to developers, just a week after Apple released the last update.

iOS 10.2 beta 3 is accompanied by the third betas for macOS Sierra 10.12.2 and tvOS 10.1. The previous versions of the beta updates added support for dozens of new emoji, an SOS feature and much more.

Developers can download iOS 10.2 beta 3 directly from the Apple developer center or via an over-the-air update if they have the previous beta installed. Release notes for the iOS 10.2 beta don’t mention any new features, but the previous two beta builds surprised us with a few new additions.

iOS 10.2 features

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iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus owners will get a batch of new wallpapers with iOS 10.2. The iOS update also brings the new TV app to all iPhones and iPads. The SOS feature that was added in iOS 10.2 beta 2 appears to have been pulled from the newest build, however.

In the third iOS 10.2 beta, Apple has removed the Videos app entirely in favor the new TV app. A new Settings section in the TV app lets you use cellular data for playback and select the streaming quality.

macOS 10.12.2 beta 3 contains a number of bug fixes and performance enhancements. The update also contains support for all the new Unicode 9.0 emoji. Mac users will now be able to send shrugs, avocados, face palms, sharks and other characters over SMS and iMessage.

The release notes for tvOS 10.1 beta 3 don’t mention any major changes. Apple is likely working on under-the-hood improvements for the new TV app, which is set to arrive on the Apple TV in December.

We’ll let you know if we find any new additions once we install the updates.

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