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Apple Releases iOS 8.2 with Apple Watch Support

Apple has released iOS 8.2, which includes the new Apple Watch app that will be used to connect with the forthcoming wearable. It also includes a new Activity app, which appears only once the iPhone is paired with an Apple Watch. In addition, iOS 8.2 provides improvements to the Health app, as well as a slew of bug fixes.

Download size will vary by device, but it was 476 MB on my iPhone 6. You can download the update on your device via Settings > General > Software Update or on your computer in iTunes.

Alas, the Apple Watch app doesn’t do much in the absence of an actual Apple Watch. It has three screens: My Watch, used to pair with an Apple Watch; Explore, which features promotional videos; and App Store, where you’ll be able to obtain Apple Watch apps. However, no Apple Watch apps are available yet.


(If you’d like to preview the Apple Watch on your iPhone, try the Featured portion of the Apple Store app, which is currently designed to help you pick out a model before you pre-order it.)

According to Apple, improvements to the Health app include the capability to select units of measurement for distance, body temperature, height, weight, and blood glucose; the option to add and visualize workout sessions from third-party apps; and a privacy setting to disable tracking of steps, distance, and flights climbed. Apple has also corrected problems with adding a Medical ID photo, units for vitamins and minerals, data failing to refresh after a change to data source order, certain graphs not showing data values, and instability when handling with large amounts of data.

Other Apple apps that received stability fixes include Mail, Maps, and Music. Plus, the reliability of VoiceOver and hearing aid connectivity has been improved.

More specifically, iOS 8.2 also:

  • Fixes an issue in Maps that prevented navigating to some favorite locations

  • Addresses an issue where the last word in a quick reply message wasn’t autocorrected, thus ruining the fun of getting the last word in an argument

  • Fixes an issue where duplicate purchased content from iTunes could prevent an iCloud restore from completing

  • Resolves an issue where some music or playlists didn’t sync from iTunes to the Music app

  • Fixes an issue where deleted audiobooks sometimes remained on the device

  • Resolves an issue that could prevent call audio from routing to car speakers while using Siri Eyes Free

  • Fixes a Bluetooth calling issue where no audio is heard until the call is answered

  • Fixes a timezone issue that caused Calendar events to appear in GMT

  • Addresses an issue that caused certain events in a custom recurring meeting to drop from an Exchange calendar

  • Fixes a certificate error that prevented configuring an Exchange account behind a third-party gateway

  • Fixes an issue that could cause an organizer’s Exchange meeting notes to be overwritten

  • Resolves an issue that prevented some Calendar events from automatically showing as “busy” after an invite had been accepted

Finally, iOS 8.2 brings us security improvements for the CoreTelephony service, iCloud Keychain, the iOS Springboard, and encrypted network connections. It also prevents attackers from creating folders in trusted locations and executing arbitrary code.

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