Apple has released the second beta version of the upcoming iOS 4.2 update to registered developers today. The company also seeded the iOS 4.2 beta 2 software development kit (SDK) and Xcode 3.2.5 to developers. There are no noticeable changes at this time, however, some users are reporting fixed issues with 3G data and Wi-Fi.
iOS 4.2 will be available for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch this November and will be the first OS to unify the software versions of the three devices.
Alongside the iOS 4.2 release, Apple seeded the first iTunes 10.1 beta to registered developers as well today. Once gain, there are no noticeable changes, but if/when we hear something, we'll let you know.
UPDATE: Some users are claiming that iOS 4.2 now displays the new iTunes 10 icon on the "Connect to iTunes" screen on the device.
Here are the full release notes for iOS 4.2:
Notes and Known Issues
The following issues relate to using the 4.2 SDK to develop code.
Xcode
Xcode can sometimes appear to hang and unresponsive for a few seconds. If you run into this issue, you can disable the automatic documentation download, to prevent this from happening again.To disable the automatic documentation download, choose Xcode->Preferences->Documentation and uncheck the “Check for and install updates automatically” option.
In iOS Beta 2, there is a new option for specifying the Base SDK called “Latest SDK”. This is the Apple recommended (and best) choice for most iOS developers. It will cause your project to always use the newest available SDK.
Advertising
Using iAds for the first may throw some errors, often followed by a successful request. This should not block development and will eventually work.
Audio
The iPad screen rotation lock switch now functions as a sound/silent switch in iOS 4.2. This switch behaves as the ring/silent switch does on iPhone.Applications targeted for iPad will need to take this into account when implementing audio behaviors.For more information on audio behavior guidelines and how to implement them, see “Handling Common Tasks” in iPhone Human Interface Guidelines and the Audio Session Programming Guide.
Calendar
Calendar can now import .ics files directly as a way to add events. If your app has access to .ics files, you should test importing them with the UIDocumentInteractionController API.
GameKit
Apps can use the GKFriendRequestComposeViewController class to initiate friend requests.
Media Player Framework
Applications using MPMoviePlayerController and MPMoviePlayerViewController to play movies now automatically benefit from AirPlay for Videos, provided they use the standard transport controls. However, video streams that rely on cookies for credentials are not supported and should be passed in the URL.
Printing
iOS 4.2 devices can print wirelessly to printers that support AirPrint, including:
HP Photosmart Premium Fax e-All-in-One Printer – C410
HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One Printer series – C310
HP Photosmart Plus e-All-in-One Printer series – B210
iOS 4.2 devices can print to printers shared through a Mac or a PC.
For iOS 4.2 beta 2, testing printing requires:
A printer that supports AirPrint, running the latest available firmware
A printer shared through a Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.5 beta, available on the iOS developer page
A printer shared through a PC running iTunes 10.1 beta, available on the iOS developer page
Choosing the menu item “Open Printer Simulator” from iPhone simulator does nothing.Launching the PrinterSimulator directly from /Developer/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/Applications provides access to the PrinterSimulator.Simulator
Building an app that weak links CoreVideo.framework against the 4.2 Simulator SDK and running against the 3.2 Simulator will result in a crash. The same configuration will work when building against the 4.2 device SDK and running on a 3.2 device.
It also appears as though iOS 4.2 adds a "Game Center" tag to apps in the App Store that are compatible with Apple's gaming network. Also, a video uploaded to YouTube shows a new app switcher interface for the iPad:
9to5Mac has also posted an image that shows the ability to upload a YouTube video in "Public" mode, "Private" mode or "Unlisted" mode in iOS 4.2.
[...] in – Apple, News Tweet Share According to 9to5Mac, the latest beta of iOS 4.2 for the iPad (released to developers two days ago) carries a section within the APN network settings that clearly shows [...]