Yesterday we told you that Apple had released the second beta version of iOS 6 to developers. At the time little was known about the update, since Apple didn’t include a changelog with the new release. In the 20 hours since then, though, iOS developers have gotten the chance to explore the update and see what’s new.
According to 9to5Mac, who have done a pretty thorough examination of the new beta, Apple has made quite a few small changes (in addition to the expected bug fixes). The first thing the new beta did is reveal a change that was actually made with iOS 6 beta 1. It seems that now when you tap the “Download and Install” button, the gears on the Settings icon are animated so that they turn. Unfortunately, though, this only applies to the gear icon on the software update page, not the actual Settings App homescreen icon.
One small change introduced with iOS 6 beta 2 is the Twitter icon. A few weeks ago Twitter made a minor change to their famous bird icon. With yesterday’s update the iOS’s Twitter-related features now take that into account. The new icon is visible on both the Tap to Tweet button in Notification Center, and in the sharing menu:
The second small change is much more useful. Calendar events displayed in Notification Center now show their end time as well as their start time:
The update also has introduces some changes that allow the user to have a little more control over what is shared and how. First, there are now more options for deciding which items get synced via iCloud. Previously you could decide whether to use your cellular data network to sync iCloud documents and iTunes, but not your Safari Reading List. With iOS 6 beta 2, Reading List has been added to the menu.
Finally, you can also fine tune your use of Photo Stream. Photo Stream, introduced with iOS 5, lets you upload every picture you take with your iOS device to iCloud. When Apple introduced iOS 6 at WWDC 2012 two weeks ago, they unveiled a new feature: Shared Photo Streams. With Shared Photo Streams, you can let your friends see the pictures you’re taking. In iOS 6 beta 2, you can now turn Shared Photo Streams on and off from the same screen where you turn Photo Stream on and off.
Of course, the fact that the new beta has these features doesn’t necessarily mean that the final version of iOS will have them. After all, we’re still a few months away from the public release of iOS 6 and the new iPhone. As Apple has proven with past betas, a lot can change in that time.
