iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2
Juli Clover (security, developer):
Today’s iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 updates bring several notable features to iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, including the Freeform app, which is a sort of digital whiteboard that you can use for anything, while also working collaboratively with friends and colleagues.
It includes the Apple Music karaoke feature called “Sing,” it introduces Advanced Data Protection for end-to-end encryption for more iCloud features, plus more. On the iPad, the update brings support for external displays on M1 and M2 iPads.
With today’s release of iPadOS 16.2, the idea behind Stage Manager achieves the full vision first presented in June, while its design and technical implementation remain stuck in an unpolished, half-baked state. Which is to say: conceptually, I love that Stage Manager in iPadOS 16.2 allows me to extend my iPad to an external display and put four additional windows on it; I’ve waited years for this feature, and it’s finally here. Technically speaking, however, the performance of this mode leaves a lot to be desired, with frequent crashes on my iPad Pro and an oft-confusing design that, I will reiterate, needs a rethinking.
Freeform is fun. It’s got a bunch of rough edges that I hope can be sanded out over time as it grows and evolves, but I love the idea that Apple decided that its collaboration tools (and, by extension, its platforms) really needed a free space for individuals and groups to use as an infinite sheet of Internet-connected note paper.
[…]
My complaints about Freeform are mostly about how it frequently just didn’t do what I wanted it to do. Sometimes tapping an object and dragging would move it on the canvas, while other times it would lift a copy of the item for me to drag around… but when I dropped it elsewhere in the app, nothing would happen. Sometimes I could drag an image on a shape to automatically use the shape as a mask for the image… other times it just didn’t work. I can crop imported photos, but not videos.
Previously:
Update (2022-12-14): Rui Carmo:
For the first time in years, I can take an iPad to my office, plug it into the same monitor I use with any of my computers and trust it will be usable for actual work[…]
[…]
It’s buggier than a bait store. At noontime, in Summer.
With the launch of iOS 16.2, Apple is expanding an AirDrop limitation that was introduced in China with the launch of iOS 16.1.1. Going forward, AirDrop will be primarily restricted to Contacts Only, and the option to turn on AirDrop for “Everyone” will be limited to 10 minutes.
John Gruber (tweet):
I wonder, though, whether “Everyone all the time” should have remained an option alongside “Everyone for 10 minutes” — it does seem like some people (schools for example) make good use of keep AirDrop open always.
Previously:
Update (2022-12-23): See also: Hacker News (on Freeform).
