Apple is on a brand new round of developer betas, with the third batch available to download for iOS 14.2, iPadOS 14.2, watchOS 7.1, and tvOS 14.2.
The newest builds can be downloaded via the Apple Developer Center for those enrolled into the test program, or via an over-the-air update on devices running the beta software. Public betas typically arrive within a few days of the developer versions, via the Apple Beta Software Program website.
The latest batch of betas replace the second round, issued on September 29, and the first on September 17, one day after Apple released the milestone versions of each operating system.
Continuing to be the outlier of the group, macOS Big Sur has yet to see a release of its milestone version, and has previously undertaken nine beta releases. The ninth build appeared on September 29, while the eighth was on September 22.
For iOS 14.2, the main changes so far have been around the Control Center, such as the addition of a Shazam icon and a “people detection” feature in Magnifier to assist with social distancing. Artwork changes have also been detected, as well as a refined interface, and an updated Apple Watch app icon.
The second beta brought new emoji under the Unicode 13 release, a tweaked Now Playing screen in Control Center, and updated icons in the Home app.
AppleInsider, and Apple itself, strongly recommend users don’t install the betas on to “mission-critical” or primary devices, as there is the remote possibility of data loss or other issues. Instead, testers should install betas onto secondary or non-essential devices, and to make sure there are sufficient backups of important data before updating.