Apple drops third betas of iOS 9.3, watchOS 2.2, and tvOS 9.2 [u]

AppleInsider · February 8, 2016 6:16PM

Apple on Tuesday provided developers with new pre-release versions of the software that runs the company's mobile ecosystem, releasing iOS 9.3 beta 3, watchOS 2.2 beta 3, and tvOS 9.2 beta 3.

Tuesday's updates come approximately two weeks after the second beta versions were released. There is no word yet on what -- if any -- external changes the new betas bring, though they do herald the arrival of some larger alterations.

iOS 9.3 brings with it a number of new features, notably the sleep-enhancing Night Shift mode. The iPad gains multi-user login for educational customers, while Music, CarPlay, and Health have also received some attention.

watchOS 2.2 -- when used in conjunction with iOS 9.3 -- will allow owners to pair multiple Apple Watches to a single iPhone, and brings a new look the Maps app.

On the Apple TV, users finally gain support for Bluetooth keyboards and the ability to group home screen apps into folders. The App Switcher is also improved, and support for iCloud Photo Library has been added along with MapKit availability for developers.

Developers can download iOS 9.3 beta 3, watchOS 2.2 beta 3, and tvOS 9.2 beta through the Apple Developer Center or the various over-the-air update channels. Apple Configurator 2.2 beta 3 is also available.

New additions: iOS 9.3 received support for Verizon Wi-Fi calling in today's update, while dictation has been incorporated into the latest tvOS build.

mac_128 · February 8, 2016 6:25PM

The more I see the TV OS moving toward iOS, the more I wonder if it's such a good idea. Certainly the ability to organize all the stuff is welcome, but it doesn't strike me as a particularly intuitive way to organize stuff for TV viewing. I was watching the TV commercial this weekend where they proclaim it to be the future of television, but with the clunky interface, and non specific uses, I found that a difficult claim to stomach. It just seems layering what works in iOS over the TV OS when there's no direct touch interface seems like a poor way to "re-invent" the TV, and is hardly the solution I was expecting when Steve Jobs proclaimed he had "cracked" it. I feel like my DirectTV UI is far more efficient despite the extra buttons on the remote. But then maybe I am just used to it after over 20 years of using it. Still there are horrible TV UIs out there, and so far, I'm not seeing Apple really improving navigation with theirs.

dick applebaum · February 8, 2016 6:34PM

mac_128 said:

The more I see the TV OS moving toward iOS, the more I wonder if it's such a good idea. Certainly the ability to organize all the stuff is welcome, but it doesn't strike me as a particularly intuitive way to organize stuff for TV viewing. I was watching the TV commercial this weekend where they proclaim it to be the future of television, but with the clunky interface, and non specific uses, I found that a difficult claim to stomach. It just seems layering what works in iOS over the TV OS when there's no direct touch interface seems like a poor way to "re-invent" the TV, and is hardly the solution I was expecting when Steve Jobs proclaimed he had "cracked" it. I feel like my DirectTV UI is far more efficient despite the extra buttons on the remote. But then maybe I am just used to it after over 20 years of using it. Still there are horrible TV UIs out there, and so far, I'm not seeing Apple really improving navigation with theirs.

Do you have the latest AppleTV using the remote with Siri and Touch?

mnbob1 · February 8, 2016 6:47PM

mac_128 said:

The more I see the TV OS moving toward iOS, the more I wonder if it's such a good idea. Certainly the ability to organize all the stuff is welcome, but it doesn't strike me as a particularly intuitive way to organize stuff for TV viewing. I was watching the TV commercial this weekend where they proclaim it to be the future of television, but with the clunky interface, and non specific uses, I found that a difficult claim to stomach. It just seems layering what works in iOS over the TV OS when there's no direct touch interface seems like a poor way to "re-invent" the TV, and is hardly the solution I was expecting when Steve Jobs proclaimed he had "cracked" it. I feel like my DirectTV UI is far more efficient despite the extra buttons on the remote. But then maybe I am just used to it after over 20 years of using it. Still there are horrible TV UIs out there, and so far, I'm not seeing Apple really improving navigation with theirs.

Comfort with an existing system makes it hard for a user to change. Like Windows 8 for example. You have to go outside of your comfort zone and "Think Differently". Times have changed, media has changed, streaming is the new entertainment media. The look and feel of iOS is not a bad thing and the software and interface will change and evolve as the entertainment industry catches up to the delivery through direct to consumer. The on-demand delivery of what the consumer is looking for. Apple is working hard to make that easy to use. The SIRI search capability allows you to search for what you want on all channels of the Apple TV. The view of the interface is only a list of what you want as far as channels. Searching through them all simultaneously is the future. Also, Siri search doesn't have to be voice. That's only one way to access it.

thrang · February 8, 2016 6:58PM

Any developer here know if these updates are addressing the poor workout active calorie calculations? When you use a chest strap and pair it with the Watch, instead of the built in HR sensors, it is much more accurate based on a variety of cross check methodologies...

supadav03 · February 8, 2016 7:32PM

Apparently text entry via dictation has been turned on in the latest TVos beta. You can use it for entering passwords and such. Another huge feature, which i cant believe this article skipped, is the ability for Siri to search the App Store now!

nolamacguy · February 8, 2016 7:39PM

mac_128 said:

The more I see the TV OS moving toward iOS, the more I wonder if it's such a good idea. Certainly the ability to organize all the stuff is welcome, but it doesn't strike me as a particularly intuitive way to organize stuff for TV viewing. I was watching the TV commercial this weekend where they proclaim it to be the future of television, but with the clunky interface, and non specific uses, I found that a difficult claim to stomach. It just seems layering what works in iOS over the TV OS when there's no direct touch interface seems like a poor way to "re-invent" the TV, and is hardly the solution I was expecting when Steve Jobs proclaimed he had "cracked" it. I feel like my DirectTV UI is far more efficient despite the extra buttons on the remote. But then maybe I am just used to it after over 20 years of using it. Still there are horrible TV UIs out there, and so far, I'm not seeing Apple really improving navigation with theirs.

you're seriously suggested DirectTV has a better UI and that ATV is still "clunky"? uh huh.

i dont find ATV clunky at all. the only problem i have are with poorly designed apps that over-emphasis images over usable screen estate (Netflix app) and use font sizes that are too small from afar (HBO GO app). but the OS is fine and navigation and launching apps is extremely easy.

supadav03 · February 8, 2016 7:50PM

There are several apps with the "Live TV" feature. It would be great to be able to see whats "now playing" without having to go into each app and then into the "Live" section/tab. It would be nice to have one place to view what was currently showing on all apps that you've downloaded that support live viewing.

purringpigeon · February 8, 2016 8:31PM

Can anyone confirm if the limitations placed in the  pencil have been fixed or if looks like they will become permanent? Thanks.

Justin5117 · February 8, 2016 9:13PM

Yes can some one please find this out. I am using my pencil now and as a public beta tester have avoided installing these betas on my iPad Pro. I am praying this is left out In the gm version if its still in beta #3

hmlongco · February 8, 2016 10:15PM

So why did Apple change Night Shift from gradually changing the color as evening approaching to going with a straight start-time/end-time scheduled approach.

The automatic and gradual change over time was much cooler.

awilliams87 · February 8, 2016 10:21PM

I personally think there should be an Apple TV model with a built in antenna.

EDIT: I changed my mind.

steviet02 · February 8, 2016 10:27PM

thrang said:

Any developer here know if these updates are addressing the poor workout active calorie calculations? When you use a chest strap and pair it with the Watch, instead of the built in HR sensors, it is much more accurate based on a variety of cross check methodologies...

A hr monitor on your wrist using light pulses on capillaries isn't going to be as accurate as electrodes on the chest.

razormaid · February 9, 2016 12:04AM

My only REAL complaint with the touch screen remote is scrolling. We have about 2,500 bluray movies on our 6TB movie drive. When you go to the drive contents you get three column options to scroll through:

UNWATCHED TITLES GENRE

The problem is as we start scrolling down one column it suddenly jumps the column to one of the others and you loose the alphabetical listing you were at instantly. In other words if it jumps suddenly from TITLES to UNWATCHED while you're around say the letter "M" (jumping out of the TITLES column) it takes you to the beginning letter "A". When you slide sideways to return to where you were it also returns to "A" and you get to start over. I've yet to see movies that start with "S" through "Z". <LOL>

What a major pain in the butt!!!

... and before someone jumps in and recommends to me, "just have Siri find it..." my response to you is "find what?" That's the problem. We don't know what we want to watch THATS why we're scrolling through our list!! If this was Windows 10 people would be ragging all over Microsoft for poor UI but because it's Apple were supposed to "deal with it?"

I can't tell you how much I HATE THIS!!!

Honest to god I've tried scrolling really straight.
I've tried scrolling really slowly.
I've tried putting tape blocking the other sides of the touch area so ONLY straight down will be visible.

The slightly movement left or right and WHAM!!! you're back to the letter 'A" starting all over again. I just want to see what's in the entire list. Why is that too much to ask? Why can't Apple make it so once you start scrolling down a column that the remote stays in the column till you tell it otherwise. It was bad enough they took away the ease of sound by dumping the optical port but this is a deal breaker. I do NOT recommend to my friends to buy this and it doesn't take much to talk them out of it I just have them try to scroll down to the letter "S". <LOL>

dick applebaum · February 9, 2016 12:55AM

razormaid said:

My only REAL complaint with the touch screen remote is scrolling. We have about 2,500 bluray movies on our 6TB movie drive. When you go to the drive contents you get three column options to scroll through:

UNWATCHED TITLES GENRE

The problem is as we start scrolling down one column it suddenly jumps the column to one of the others and you loose the alphabetical listing you were at instantly. In other words if it jumps suddenly from TITLES to UNWATCHED while you're around say the letter "M" (jumping out of the TITLES column) it takes you to the beginning letter "A". When you slide sideways to return to where you were it also returns to "A" and you get to start over. I've yet to see movies that start with "S" through "Z". <LOL>

What a major pain in the butt!!!

... and before someone jumps in and recommends to me, "just have Siri find it..." my response to you is "find what?" That's the problem. We don't know what we want to watch THATS why we're scrolling through our list!! If this was Windows 10 people would be ragging all over Microsoft for poor UI but because it's Apple were supposed to "deal with it?"

I can't tell you how much I HATE THIS!!!

Honest to god I've tried scrolling really straight.
I've tried scrolling really slowly.
I've tried putting tape blocking the other sides of the touch area so ONLY straight down will be visible.

The slightly movement left or right and WHAM!!! you're back to the letter 'A" starting all over again. I just want to see what's in the entire list. Why is that too much to ask? Why can't Apple make it so once you start scrolling down a column that the remote stays in the column till you tell it otherwise. It was bad enough they took away the ease of sound by dumping the optical port but this is a deal breaker. I do NOT recommend to my friends to buy this and it doesn't take much to talk them out of it I just have them try to scroll down to the letter "S". <LOL>

You're correct, its a real PITA!

Apple could easily correct this as follows with 3 levels:

select a column option: UNWATCHED, TITLES, GENRE (later other categories such as Artist, Director, Plot, Location, Era ...
select a column position: START, END, LAST (Resume last position)
scroll up or down ONLY in the current column
use the Menu Button to go up a level

Ka-Boom!

steviet02 · February 9, 2016 1:18AM

nolamacguy said:

mac_128 said:

The more I see the TV OS moving toward iOS, the more I wonder if it's such a good idea. Certainly the ability to organize all the stuff is welcome, but it doesn't strike me as a particularly intuitive way to organize stuff for TV viewing. I was watching the TV commercial this weekend where they proclaim it to be the future of television, but with the clunky interface, and non specific uses, I found that a difficult claim to stomach. It just seems layering what works in iOS over the TV OS when there's no direct touch interface seems like a poor way to "re-invent" the TV, and is hardly the solution I was expecting when Steve Jobs proclaimed he had "cracked" it. I feel like my DirectTV UI is far more efficient despite the extra buttons on the remote. But then maybe I am just used to it after over 20 years of using it. Still there are horrible TV UIs out there, and so far, I'm not seeing Apple really improving navigation with theirs.

you're seriously suggested DirectTV has a better UI and that ATV is still "clunky"? uh huh.

i dont find ATV clunky at all. the only problem i have are with poorly designed apps that over-emphasis images over usable screen estate (Netflix app) and use font sizes that are too small from afar (HBO GO app). but the OS is fine and navigation and launching apps is extremely easy.

Have you used Direct TV with the Genie hardware and the iOS Apps? Never mind the Fact that Live TV is basically a no show on the ATV, so you don't really have the same experience of looking at live TV guides to make decisions, or using the voice controls to find recordings etc... They are two different animals but from what I've seen from the Genie and DirectTV it's not bad. The TiVO Bolt is still the best of the bunch as far as I'm concerned if you stick with cable providers.

supadav03 · February 9, 2016 2:10AM

awilliams87 said:

I personally think there should be an Apple TV model with a built in antenna.

EDIT: I changed my mind.

Just curious why? I always thought a built in antenna was a great idea.

razormaid · February 9, 2016 2:29AM

dick applebaum said:

razormaid said:

My only REAL complaint with the touch screen remote is scrolling. We have about 2,500 bluray movies on our 6TB movie drive. When you go to the drive contents you get three column options to scroll through:

UNWATCHED TITLES GENRE

The problem is as we start scrolling down one column it suddenly jumps the column to one of the others and you loose the alphabetical listing you were at instantly. In other words if it jumps suddenly from TITLES to UNWATCHED while you're around say the letter "M" (jumping out of the TITLES column) it takes you to the beginning letter "A". When you slide sideways to return to where you were it also returns to "A" and you get to start over. I've yet to see movies that start with "S" through "Z". <LOL>

What a major pain in the butt!!!

... and before someone jumps in and recommends to me, "just have Siri find it..." my response to you is "find what?" That's the problem. We don't know what we want to watch THATS why we're scrolling through our list!! If this was Windows 10 people would be ragging all over Microsoft for poor UI but because it's Apple were supposed to "deal with it?"

I can't tell you how much I HATE THIS!!!

Honest to god I've tried scrolling really straight.
I've tried scrolling really slowly.
I've tried putting tape blocking the other sides of the touch area so ONLY straight down will be visible.

The slightly movement left or right and WHAM!!! you're back to the letter 'A" starting all over again. I just want to see what's in the entire list. Why is that too much to ask? Why can't Apple make it so once you start scrolling down a column that the remote stays in the column till you tell it otherwise. It was bad enough they took away the ease of sound by dumping the optical port but this is a deal breaker. I do NOT recommend to my friends to buy this and it doesn't take much to talk them out of it I just have them try to scroll down to the letter "S". <LOL>

You're correct, its a real PITA!

Apple could easily correct this as follows with 3 levels:
select a column option: UNWATCHED, TITLES, GENRE (later other categories such as Artist, Director, Plot, Location, Era ...
select a column position: START, END, LAST (Resume last position)
scroll up or down ONLY in the current column
use the Menu Button to go up a level

Ka-Boom!

Hey Dick thanks for detailing an excellent and creative fix. If you don't mind I'm going to send that straight to my "handler" who's one of the big wigs in engineering 3 at Cupertino. He keeps me one beta ahead of the beta releases to the developers (I assume so I'll find everything for them - HA!)

Your description was an elegant (and seemingly simple) fix to a messy situation the touch remote control creates and I will make sure he knows where the idea came from (you not me).

And on a personal note: thanks for not making me look like a "complainer" which so many responders do on here. I have a legitimate complaint and you took it seriously enough to respond. Thanks for that.

thrang · February 9, 2016 3:39AM

steviet02 said:

thrang said:

Any developer here know if these updates are addressing the poor workout active calorie calculations? When you use a chest strap and pair it with the Watch, instead of the built in HR sensors, it is much more accurate based on a variety of cross check methodologies...

A hr monitor on your wrist using light pulses on capillaries isn't going to be as accurate as electrodes on the chest.

But standard exercise equipment without a HR monitor estimate much more accurately (assuming you put in your age, weight, height etc.) and you subtract your BMR which you can easily calculate. Apple Activity app is WAY off...

dick applebaum · February 9, 2016 5:53AM

razormaid said:

dick applebaum said:

razormaid said:

My only REAL complaint with the touch screen remote is scrolling. We have about 2,500 bluray movies on our 6TB movie drive. When you go to the drive contents you get three column options to scroll through:

UNWATCHED TITLES GENRE

The problem is as we start scrolling down one column it suddenly jumps the column to one of the others and you loose the alphabetical listing you were at instantly. In other words if it jumps suddenly from TITLES to UNWATCHED while you're around say the letter "M" (jumping out of the TITLES column) it takes you to the beginning letter "A". When you slide sideways to return to where you were it also returns to "A" and you get to start over. I've yet to see movies that start with "S" through "Z". <LOL>

What a major pain in the butt!!!

... and before someone jumps in and recommends to me, "just have Siri find it..." my response to you is "find what?" That's the problem. We don't know what we want to watch THATS why we're scrolling through our list!! If this was Windows 10 people would be ragging all over Microsoft for poor UI but because it's Apple were supposed to "deal with it?"

I can't tell you how much I HATE THIS!!!

Honest to god I've tried scrolling really straight.
I've tried scrolling really slowly.
I've tried putting tape blocking the other sides of the touch area so ONLY straight down will be visible.

The slightly movement left or right and WHAM!!! you're back to the letter 'A" starting all over again. I just want to see what's in the entire list. Why is that too much to ask? Why can't Apple make it so once you start scrolling down a column that the remote stays in the column till you tell it otherwise. It was bad enough they took away the ease of sound by dumping the optical port but this is a deal breaker. I do NOT recommend to my friends to buy this and it doesn't take much to talk them out of it I just have them try to scroll down to the letter "S". <LOL>

You're correct, its a real PITA!

Apple could easily correct this as follows with 3 levels:
select a column option: UNWATCHED, TITLES, GENRE (later other categories such as Artist, Director, Plot, Location, Era ...
select a column position: START, END, LAST (Resume last position)
scroll up or down ONLY in the current column
use the Menu Button to go up a level

Ka-Boom!

Hey Dick thanks for detailing an excellent and creative fix. If you don't mind I'm going to send that straight to my "handler" who's one of the big wigs in engineering 3 at Cupertino. He keeps me one beta ahead of the beta releases to the developers (I assume so I'll find everything for them - HA!)

Your description was an elegant (and seemingly simple) fix to a messy situation the touch remote control creates and I will make sure he knows where the idea came from (you not me).

And on a personal note: thanks for not making me look like a "complainer" which so many responders do on here. I have a legitimate complaint and you took it seriously enough to respond. Thanks for that.

The first rule of disruption is to identify a process that really sucks and have the courage to address it.

dcgoo · February 9, 2016 2:45PM

supadav03 said:

awilliams87 said:

I personally think there should be an Apple TV model with a built in antenna.

EDIT: I changed my mind.

Just curious why? I always thought a built in antenna was a great idea.

I am not sure the antenna has to be built-in (might be outside on your roof), but no over the air capability is the big gaping hole in the product IMO. TiVo knocks it out of the park for exactly that reason. Provides iPad/iPhone remote access to any OTA recorded content. Plus access to all the Internet sources as well.

Apple drops third betas of iOS 9.3, watchOS 2.2, and tvOS 9.2 [u]

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