Apple Releases iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, macOS 13.1 Ventura, watchOS 9.2, and tvOS 16.2
Apple has been piling up the promises of late, adding Advanced Data Protection for iCloud and Apple Music Sing to the list of features that would ship by the end of this month. Earlier promises include the Freeform collaborative digital whiteboard, external display support for Stage Manager on M1 iPads, and the Apple Watch Race Route feature for competing against your previous workouts. All those features are now available in iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, macOS 13.1 Ventura, watchOS 9.2, tvOS 16.2, and HomePod Software 16.2.
These are significant feature releases, and my usual advice for such major releases is to wait at least a week before updating. However, I suggest a quick update because the new versions block a WebKit-related vulnerability that Apple says may have been actively exploited in the wild “against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.1.” (In fact, Apple also released iOS 15.7.2 and iPadOS 15.7.2 to address this serious vulnerability and 16 others—update older devices soon.)
The main exception is the iPhone—if you updated to iOS 16.1.2, you’re protected from that vulnerability already and can hold off on installing iOS 16.2 for a bit if you want (see “iOS 16.1.2 Optimizes Crash Detection, Improves Wireless Carrier Compatibility,” 7 December 2022). Apple had delayed posting security notes for iOS 16.1.2 until now.
Introducing Freeform
Top among the changes in iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, and macOS 13.1 is the addition of a new bundled app: Freeform. It’s a digital whiteboard app designed for collaborative brainstorming that “helps users organize and visually lay out content on a flexible canvas, giving them the ability to see, share, and collaborate all in one place without worrying about layouts or page sizes.” Data optionally syncs to your other devices through iCloud.
I remain unsure of what to think about Freeform, and I hope to give it a try in the upcoming weeks. It’s not that I worry that Apple did a poor job (though Jason Snell found lots of rough edges) or that it will be difficult to use (but here’s the Freeform manual, just in case). Instead, it’s that a collaborative digital whiteboard seems like an odd choice to add to the overall Apple experience. Although Apple has recently been upping its game in this respect, collaboration has never been one of the company’s strong suits—Apple is, first and foremost, about empowering the individual, not the group. Digital whiteboarding tools are built into Zoom and many other videoconferencing platforms, which will likely remain far more popular for business and educational collaboration than FaceTime.
I also can’t say that I’ve ever seen anyone asking for a digital whiteboard from Apple, whereas it’s common to hear users pining for a consumer-level database along the lines of what people used in AppleWorks/ClarisWorks, early versions of FileMaker, and even HyperCard.
Perhaps I’m just being curmudgeonly because, for me, collaboration is primarily about written documents, with a soupçon of spreadsheets thrown in (I’ve become quite fond of building group-focused spreadsheets in Google Sheets in the past year). It’s also possible that Freeform will prove hugely popular with an audience of teens and young adults who don’t need serious collaboration tools but who enjoy larking around together on an infinite canvas. Give it a try and see what you think.
iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2
With the new iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2, iPhones and iPads gain new and improved features, some significant, others less so:
- Advanced Data Protection: I won’t say it’s a game-changer for most people, but Advanced Data Protection for iCloud goes a long way toward addressing criticisms of Apple’s privacy position with iCloud. As I wrote in “Apple’s Advanced Data Protection Gives You More Keys to iCloud Data” (8 December 2022), the feature provides end-to-end encryption for many more iCloud data types, and if you’re concerned about breaches of Apple’s security or overreach by law enforcement, you should turn it on. Conversely, stick with Apple’s standard iCloud data protection (which encrypts all data in transit and on Apple’s servers, but using keys that Apple controls) if you have older devices that need to connect to your iCloud account but aren’t compatible with this set of OS updates. Remember that enabling Advanced Data Protection prevents Apple from helping you recover your iCloud account if you forget your password, so be sure to set up the Account Recovery options of adding a Recovery Contact, creating a Recovery Key, or both—at least one must be enabled to turn on Advanced Data Protection.
- Apple Music Sing: Karaoke for Apple Music subscribers on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Alcohol not included.
- Game Center: The updates add SharePlay support to GameCenter for multiplayer games so you can play with people in a FaceTime call. Also, a new Activity widget lets you see what your friends are playing on your Home Screen.
- Home: Although Apple’s release notes merely list “improved reliability and efficiency of communication between your smart home accessories and Apple devices,” the big change for the Home app is a new Home architecture, which requires an intentional upgrade. Older devices that aren’t compatible with this batch of OS releases won’t be able to access the upgraded home, so hold off on the Home upgrade until you’re certain it won’t be a problem.
- Messages: A search in Messages can now find photos based on their content. Machine learning is your friend.
- Weather: Apple says that the Weather app will now display weather-related news articles associated with the current location. I can’t see any instance of this working yet, even in the parts of the US currently experiencing significant weather.
- iCloud Private Relay: If you have trouble with iCloud Private Relay preventing a website from loading properly in Safari, a new option lets you temporarily disable the service for a specific site. Tap the AA button in the toolbar, tap Show IP Address, and tap Continue.
- Notes: When collaborating with others in Notes, you’ll see live indicators as others make updates in a shared note.
- AirDrop: As rumored, Apple has tweaked AirDrop so it reverts from Everyone to Contacts Only after 10 minutes (the new label reads “Everyone for 10 Minutes”) to prevent unwanted requests to receive content. That’s not unreasonable, but the intent is brought into question by the fact that Apple first implemented it for iPhones in China, where protestors were using AirDrop to organize.
Several additional features are specific to the iPhone:
- Lock Screen settings: Apple added settings that let you hide the wallpaper or notifications when the Always On display is enabled for an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max. I’ll be curious to try them; I’ve found that I don’t love the Always On display because it makes the iPhone more likely to catch my eye and distract me from what I’m doing. There’s also a new Show Photo in Library option when setting up the Photo Shuffle wallpaper.
- More Lock Screen widgets: New Sleep and Medications widgets for the Lock Screen let you view your most recent sleep data and quickly access your medication schedule. The latter strikes me as important, given that medication notifications are a little too easy to ignore (see “An Apple a Day: iOS 16 Medications Feature Provides Alerts, Logging, and Peace of Mind,” 7 October 2022).
- Live Activities for Apple TV: Sports fans will appreciate the new Live Activities for the Apple TV app, which lets you follow your favorite teams with live scores on the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. I’m still hoping Apple will add track & field and other major running races to its sports tracking.
The major promised iPad feature in iPadOS 16.2 is support for Stage Manager on external displays with M1 iPad models, including the fifth-generation iPad Air, the third-generation 11-inch iPad Pro and later, and the fifth-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro and later. Stage Manager supports displays with resolutions up to 6K (for your Pro Display XDR), allows drag-and-drop of files and windows from the iPad to the display, and lets you use up to four apps on the iPad screen and another four on the external display (see Julio Ojeda-Zapata’s “First Impressions: Stage Manager on the iPad and Mac,” 18 July 2022).
The only other iPad-specific change appears to be the addition of Tracking Notifications that alert you if an AirTag separated from its owner is nearby and has recently played a sound to indicate that it’s moving. In other words, if I understand correctly, the iPad can now alert you to AirTag stalking, just like the iPhone.
The updates fix a couple of bugs, one for both platforms that caused some notes not to sync with iCloud after being updated and an iPad-specific bug that could cause Multi-Touch gestures to become unresponsive while using the Zoom accessibility feature.
iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 also address 33 security vulnerabilities, presumably including the one that’s being actively exploited in the wild for those who haven’t already updated to iOS 16.1.2.
Update in Settings > General > Software Update.
macOS 13.1 Ventura
The release notes for macOS 13.1 Ventura are significantly shorter than for iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2, and they are even shorter yet if you eliminate the changes that are common to all three, including Freeform, Advanced Data Protection, improved search in Messages, Participant Cursors in Notes, and the fix for notes not syncing properly.
That leaves just one improvement and one bug fix unique to Ventura:
- Find My: You can now find nearby AirTags, second-generation AirPods Pro cases, and Find My network accessories by playing a sound on them. I didn’t realize this wasn’t already possible, but it’s certainly welcome.
- No input: macOS 13.1 fixes a bug that caused the loss of keyboard and mouse input in some apps and games. I have no idea how common that bug was, but it would be insanely annoying, so the fix would be reason enough to update.
Unmentioned by Apple but noticed by Howard Oakley is the fact that macOS 13.1 restores the Network Locations feature to System Settings.
macOS 13.1 also addresses 33 security vulnerabilities, including the WebKit bug that was actively exploited.
Install the update in System Settings > General > Software Update, or use the Software Update Available notification in System Settings.
watchOS 9.2
For entirely different changes, check out watchOS 9.2. Most notably, it delivers on earlier feature promises by introducing the Race Route feature that lets you compete against yourself by comparing earlier times in the Outdoor Run, Outdoor Cycle, and Outdoor Wheelchair workouts. And if you run on running tracks that the watch recognizes, the Outdoor Run workout automatically detects the location and provides track-specific metrics. As well it should, says the guy who coaches weekly track workouts.
Other changes in watchOS 9.2 include:
- New custom Kickboxing algorithm in the Workout app for more accurate metrics
- Noise app displaying when environmental sound levels are reduced now available with first-generation AirPods Pro and AirPods Max when using active noise cancellation
- Family Setup users can be invited to the Home app to control HomePod speakers and smart home accessories, and unlock doors with home keys in Wallet
- Accessibility support to visualize when Siren is in use on an Apple Watch Ultra
- Improved response time and accuracy of hand gesture controls for AssistiveTouch and Quick Actions
- Crash Detection optimizations on the second-generation Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 8, and Apple Watch Ultra (presumably to avoid false positives people have experienced on roller coasters and ski slopes)
- Fix for a bug that caused the time to be displayed incorrectly immediately after dismissing an alarm in Sleep Focus
- Fix for a bug that caused interruptions to mindfulness sessions
There are 23 security vulnerabilities addressed in watchOS 9.2, but it wasn’t susceptible to the WebKit bug that plagued the other operating systems. In other words, don’t rush to update for security reasons. The other features seem worthwhile, though.
You can install watchOS 9.2 in the Watch app on your iPhone in My Watch > General > Software Update. Your Apple Watch must be connected to a charger and charged to at least 50%.
tvOS 16.2
tvOS 16.2 receives more changes than the Apple TV’s operating system generally gets. Foremost are improvements to Siri, which can now recognize up to six different family members, work in a language other than the one your Apple TV displays (our son Tristan likes to talk to Siri on his iPhone in French while leaving the rest of the interface in English), and has more language support (Danish in Denmark, French and German in Luxembourg, and English in Singapore) to help users find shows and music.
Apple also enhanced the Apple TV’s support for Apple Music. It now provides real-time lyrics synced with music (ostensibly for singing along, but also useful just for figuring out what they say), and if you have a third-generation Apple TV 4K, you can also control the vocal volume, presumably for karaoke enthusiasts.
tvOS 16.2 addresses 26 security vulnerabilities, and although it’s hard to stress about an Apple TV being hacked, these fixes come courtesy of Apple’s operating systems sharing so much of their code.
You can install tvOS 16.2 by going to Settings > System > Software Update. Or just let it install on its own.
HomePod Software 16.2
Apple says nothing about this update beyond the fact that it “includes general performance and stability improvements.” It should install automatically soon enough, or, in iOS 16, you can touch and hold the HomePod’s accessory tile and select Accessory Details. Scroll down and tap the gear, and then tap Update.
It appears that Homepods were also updated. I’m now loading a 16.2 update. No specific improvements or bug fixes were noted.
That’s because of bad UI design not indicating to you what you’re expected to do.
You didn’t select the update. Even if this is the only update in the list, until you manually select it, you won’t see any release notes. Not that those terse bullets are worth a whole lot anyway though.
FI. NAL. LY!
I’m still surprised fixing a simple oversight like this (BTW, beta testers, perhaps you might want to wake up next time?) takes exactly 50 days for company with $250B in cash on hand. Something tells me it shouldn’t quite cost that much or be that complicated. But heck, what do I know?
Grr! Yeah, Apple’s page about HomePod Software had no update, and I wasn’t seeing it for our original HomePods, but now mine say they’re downloading HomePod Software 16.1.
Aha! Our HomePod mini says it’s downloading 16.2 which has “general performance and stability improvements.”
Fixed in the article now.
Seriously? Wow, that’s terrible interface design. I’ve avoided System Settings for the most part, but every time I go in, I’m shocked at how bad it is.
Just because a flaw is reported, doesn’t mean it will get fixed any time soon. I would hazard a guess that less than half the beta bugs reported end up being fixed before public release. Apple management appears to be aware of this now and has said things will improve, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
I’m surprised that Apple hasn’t mentioned the updates for the new (optional) Home architecture updates in either this or tvOS 16.2 release notes.
I’ve had frequent kernel panics on my M1 MBP since upgrading to Ventura. Too early to tell, but I hope this update nixes that.
Had a look at Freeform and the first thing that jumped out on me was: no dark mode. I’d use it for astronomy projects with colleagues at the planetarium, so dark mode is essential there. I’ll put in a feature request.
I just tried Freeform on my iPhone. It looks like there are some nice features, but my first thought was why didn’t they just upgrade Notes to add the additional markup features?
Now there are two note taking apps basically, right?
Happily using Freeform here. It’s ideal for quick diagramming for my tech support work before getting bogged down in Visio. It’s made a very good first impression with me.
And it’s still saying 16.1 today.
Is there a use case for Freeform outside of iPad & Pencil?
Has anyone updated whose Mac is on an older OS? Does syncing still work? I’ll probably be on Mojave for a while but rely on syncing. Thanks!
Yes, it should still work unless you take advantage of Advanced Data Protection on one of your other platforms that did apply one of these updates. Doing so will ask you to remove all other platforms from iCloud.
Since updating iOS and iPadOS to 16.2 I’ve had to manually reconnect and re-enter WiFi network passwords on networks I regularly connected to.
They’re still there in the iCloud Keychain, my Macs are happily reconnecting.
Anyone else seen this, or just me?
On recent macOS updates I’ve sometimes experienced that my Mac will disconnect from my home wifi after several hours and refuse to reconnect. It’s not a password issue, just failure to connect to network. Restart the Mac and gone. My home wifi is AirPort Extreme (last gen) based and usually rock stable so this is definitely related to the updates. I have no idea why a restart would “fix” it. Since there is a lot of common code used between macOS and iOS, especially for stuff like network layer, I wonder if these issues could be related. Have you tried a forced restart of your iPhone/iPad?
Unfortunately HomepodOS 16.2 has introduced a pause when sound tracks are in a loop. I have been using a waterfall sound track for tinnitus and it smoothly looped before the 16.2 update. Now there is a pause for a couple of seconds, making it useless for sleep therapy.
I have sent feedback to Apple. They know how to fix it because it happened with OS 15.4!
I’ve been sticking with Monterey on my M2 MBAir since I’d read Ventura caused problems, which I wasn’t having, and didn’t bring improvements or features that I’d miss. Is Ventura 13.1 now better/safe/recommended?
Of course this is just me, but I’ve had no issues at all (with the exception of learning my way through the new settings app at times) on any version of Ventura on my M2 MBA. 13.1 has been fine for me. As I mentioned on another thread, the 13.1 upgrade was the first time I restarted it even logged out of my user account since 13.0.1 came out.
I have to admit for me Ventura seems to have been one of the better ones. Nothing new AFAICT got broken. Some old glitches not fixed yet perhaps, but nothing new that’s broken here (M1 Pro 14", M1 Max 14", M1 MBA) . I don’t care about any of Ventura’s new “features” like Stage Manager or the new Settings GUI, but I will say that I am feeling pretty good about ADP.
Edit: one little exception does come to mind. Getting generic icons in Mail for attached PDFs stinks. That was never an issue in Monterey. And it’s nowhere else (Finder, etc) other than in Mail.
I’m more excited for Freeform now that I’m dealing with multiple, large initiatives with many moving parts that all link together in various ways. I’m using a similar (and costly) tool to plot these out and visualize how they relate, which is incredibly useful. Unfortunately, Freeform is Apple only, so it’s of limited utility for people who work in a mixed environment.
Thanks, Doug and Simon, I’ve just installed Ventura and so far everything seems fine. In fact, my Mac seems to be a bit peppier.
These releases bring the totally reworked Home Architecture on the backend. It appears to be an opt-in upgrade (Upgrade to the new Home architecture on iPad - Apple Support) and any devices not running the latest OS versions will likely be unable to open a home in the Home app, so I doubt this community will be rushing to upgrade. The upgrade promises speed and stability improvements compared to the existing architecture. It also requires that all members of the home have upgraded architecture on all of the homes they are part of or they will no longer be able to access some of their homes until upgraded, so be intentional about when you upgrade a home with multiple Residents and make sure they have do not have any vistigial homes they accidentally created of forgot about.
That explains the inclusion of Home in the update list, but it would have been nice of Apple to call out what was actually happening.
I agree that the restrictions of the new Home Architecture is something that will slow adoption, though I suspect that most people don’t use the Home app on a lot of different devices, so it may not be as significant as the Advanced Data Protection restrictions, for instance.
At this point, I’m not quite ready to say that everyone should upgrade to Ventura, but I don’t see any real problem in doing so. I’ve been running it with no problems (other than the ugliness of System Settings) on my M1 MacBook Air since launch. I plan to update my 2020 27-inch iMac over the break, but that’s going to take more time because I want to do a complete rebuild from scratch to clear out all the cruft that accumulates from testing hundreds of apps.
One specific issue for those using Arq backup: Coincident with the installation of macOS 13.1 (not observed on 13.0), my Arq backups are consistently throwing the error “Failed to get contents of directory: Interrupted system call.” The errors are always targeting the “Data” sub-folder of a parent folder at the path “~/Library/Containers/”. The intervening folder varies, and the number of errors per backup varies as well (anywhere from 1 to around 12). Arq support simply says “We’re working with Apple to get an answer to what’s causing this,” which leaves me with the impression they have a number of customers reporting this.
Files are still being backed up, but each backup run is delayed approximately 5-10 minutes per error (according to the log), and my backup retention rules, space budget, and unreferenced data pruning are not being enforced (standard behavior any time Arq encounters an error during backup).
I’ll keep my eye open for this, but for now I’m not seeing this backing up on Arq on two Macs (one Intel, one an M2) which both are backing up some folders in ~/Library/Containers (different folders on each machine.)
As it turns out, I’m also backing up two 13.1 Macs. My MacBook is the one referred to in my post above. The other is a brand new Mini M1. Oddly enough, when I first updated the Mini from 13.0 to 13.1, it had similar errors on the first couple backups, and then they stopped happening. What’s the difference, and what changed? Beats me. I will say the Mini is very, very lightly used (as in days between user activity).
I’ve had Ventura 13.1 for 3 days now on 2 M2 MBAs. Only a few minor problems: I can’t connect to a hospital WiFi where I had no problem before, but they tell me their system hasn’t changed and doesn’t seem problematic; the Mac couldn’t connect to an HP printer until I removed and reinstalled it; TechTool Pro isn’t yet compatible with Ventura (they say they’re working on it).
My late 2017 21.5 inch iMac (with the OS living on a 1 GB card in the processor direct slot) and my 16” Intel MacBook Pro are still on Catalina. All this stuff and simultaneous multi-device updates because of an apparently exploited WebKit vulnerability make me wonder whether it’s finally time to update to the current macOS, since no updates to macOS were released with this wave. Anybody know?
Yes, if you’re concerned about the WebKit bug that’s being exploited, you’ll want to upgrade to either macOS 13.1 Ventura, or to Safari 16.2 with either of the previous versions of macOS.
Updating to Safari 16.2 is not an option available to me. I’m currently running Catalina 10.15.7 and don’t know whether Catalina and/or Safari 15.6.1 (Software Update shows no available updates) is unaffected by the WebKit exploit and therefore not patched, or whether Apple now considers them “legacy” OS and application software that no longer justify maintenance updates.
Does anyone here know the answer to that? I don’t have any absolute need to upgrade my iMac and MacBook Pro to the “Apple Silicon” hosting current OS and app versions, but if I’m leaving myself open to attack if I DON’T update, I’ll do so.
Thanks so much,
Jim Robertson
I had the same problem with my HP printer and solved it the same way.
You guys just made me feel a bit better.
I had updated to Ventura a couple weeks ago and only just the other day to 13.1. I hadn’t even thought about updating software/drivers for my b/w HP LaserJet at home. But I printed to it several times already and so far all looks just fine, no trouble at all. So perhaps my very humble HP printer is just not fancy enough to cause any trouble. 
I’ll take that as a win. 
Most (not sure about all of them) of HP’s laser printers use some version of PCL, with many also including PostScript.
So even if you don’t have a model-specific driver, you should be able to print using a generic PCL or PS driver. Generic drivers may not support all of your printer’s features, but they should support the most important basic ones (paper size, number/type of paper trays, print resolution, duplexing), even if they don’t support the more advanced ones (built-in color calibration, hardware halftoning, etc.)
And in some cases, even a generic driver can support model-specific features. This is commonly the case with PostScript, where the “driver” is commonly a PPD file used in conjunction with a generic driver.
This, BTW, is one of the reasons why I explicitly look for PCL and/or PS support in every printer I buy. So I will always have a fallback option (generic drivers), should model-specific drivers no longer become available.
Yes, Catalina is too old to receive any more updates, security fixes or otherwise. You’ll need to upgrade to Big Sur, Monterey, or Ventura to get Safari 16.2.
Although Apple hasn’t explicitly said that Catalina and Safari 15.6.1 are vulnerable to this WebKit vulnerability, the company did say it affected versions of iOS prior to iOS 15.1. That, coupled with the fact that Apple did release Safari 16.2 for Big Sur and Monterey to address it leads me to believe that Catalina and Safari 15.6.1 is vulnerable. Of course, that’s likely been true for years, so it’s probably not a vulnerability being exploited en masse, but one that was used to target high-value individuals.
In short, I would recommend that you upgrade soon, but not in a panicky fashion. Take some time, make sure your software is 64-bit compatible, and then make the jump to something more modern. (And I frankly wouldn’t bother upgrading to Big Sur or Monterey if your hardware can go to Ventura; it’s not worth the effort.)
Perhaps should’ve said that my HP printer problem was on an M1 Air running 13.1 connected to a HP MF B&W wirelessly via a Synology RT2600AC router that the printer is connected to by ethernet. The Air was running 13.0.1 until yesterday, but I don’t print from it often and so am not sure if the problem began with Ventura. Anyway, it was solved by reinstalling the driver.
Haven’t updated my M1 Mini (still running 13.0.1 and printing fine) which connects to the same printer by ethernet wired to the same router. I guess it’s possible it’s a wireless-only issue. We’ll see.
Thanks so much for that. Going back one episode of Tidbits in my email inbox I discover that updates to MS Office ALSO require a newer OS on my Macs, so now I have TWO reasons to update. I’ll make sure both my laptop and desktop are compatible with Ventura (if I still lived in physical California I’d rather settle in Monterey, but that’s an issue for a different alternative reality
A follow-up on this: Arq released version 7.19.8.3 which has fixed the problem.
Or alternatively, switch to a different web browser that is still receiving regular updates on Catalina.
Firefox requires 10.12 (“Sierra”) or later, so that’s one option.
Microsoft Edge requires 10.13 (“High Sierra”) or later, so that’s another option.
Other browsers have other minimum requirements, which may be compatible with Catalina.
Recent experiences of it still happening, with lesser accessed networks, lead me to think it might be connected with the introduction of the ability to reveal a WiFi password?
(Although they were always stored in the keychain, and could be retrieved on a Mac ever since the introduction of iCloud Keychain.)
Regardless, it’s still very annoying.
This doesn’t mean that there isn’t some sort of bug, but I’m not seeing that at all. I haven’t all through iOS 16.
I know it can be a pain in the neck, but have you tried resetting network settings? Settings / General / Transfer or Reset phone, tap “Reset” at the bottom, tap reset network settings.
This will forget all WiFi network passwords, but if you’re having an issue with network settings, this would be the first step to solve the problem.
I’m just re-entering them as I encounter them, those remaining will be places I visit less often. It does remember them afterwards, whereas if I were to reset network settings now I’d definitely have to reenter them, including those already done.