The iOS 11 Beta 2 is finally here (as we’re nearing the Public Beta release). And while it doesn’t bring a lot of UI or feature changes, it does fix a lot of bugs. Running Beta 2 should be much more tolerable than Beta 1. Here’s everything that’s new in this beta.
1. Disable Recent Apps in iPad Dock
The new Dock on the iPad has a 3 app section on the right that’s dedicated to showing your recent apps. You can now disable this section by going into Settings -> General -> Multitasking.
2. Hindi Dictation
The Dictation feature now supports the Hindi language.
3. Ability to Disable Control Center in Apps is Back
when you go to Settings, there’s now an option to disable Control Center when using apps. Toggling Bluetooth doesn’t disable it but disconnects it from the current connection.
4. Do Not Disturb While Driving in Settings
There’s now a Do Not Disturb While Driving section in Do Not Disturb section in Settings.
5. Advanced Settings in Safari
In the Advanced section, there are now new options to turn on experimental features like CSS Spring Animations, WebGPU, Web Animations and more.
6. Album Art Works in Lockscreen Widget
The Now Playing card on the Lock screen and Notification Center gets a design update. Now, it will show album art even when you’re playing from a third party app.
7. AirPlay Button in Lock screen
More importantly, there’s an AirPlay shortcut right in the Now Playing card, making it easy to switch audio outputs. This feature has been buried in the Control Center so it’s good to see we’ll have easy access to it somewhere else.
8. Now Lock Screen Animation
When you swipe down the Notification Center when music is playing, you get a new bouncing animation.
9. Better Search in Music App
The search in Music app is now much smarter. You’ll get contextual results. If you search for an artist, you can directly jump to their artist page.
10. Save to Files Share Sheet Extension
We now know how exactly you’ll be able to add files to the Files app – using Share Sheet.
Select a file and open the Share Sheet to see the new menu option. It replaces the Add to iCloud Drive option.
11. Location in Files App Are Active
In Beta 1, only iCloud Drive worked as a Locations source. Now, legacy providers like OneDrive and Box do show up. But this isn’t the new iOS 11 support. It’s just the old Document Picker integration that’s how showing up in the Files app.
12. iMessage Effects Update
The Echo effect in iMessage is now orange. Which doesn’t look quite as good as the blue one before.
13. Control Center Music Widget Update
Music widget in Control Center gets a slight design change. The text is now clearer to read and is more spaced out.
14: Control Center Music Popup Design Update
When you 3D Touch into the Music widget, you’ll find that the volume slider is bigger and easier to operate.
15. Control Center Works Better During Games
In Beta 1, it was almost impossible to bring up Control Center when you were in a game or an app. Now, when you swipe up, you’ll see a newly designed grabber. Swipe up once again and Control Center’s right there.
16.Long Press Screenshot Preview
This is really cool and it makes the existing Screenshot preview and markup feature even better. When you take a screenshot, you’ll now be able to longpress on the preview that shows up in the bottom-left corner. When you do, you’ll directly get the Share sheet. This means sharing a screenshot to a conversation or an app became a lot faster.
17. Low Power Widget Is Now Monochrome
In Beta 1, when you turned on the Low Power Mode, it would change its color to yellow, which was reflective of the battery icon in Low Power Mode. Now it just stays monochrome, with the background turning white instead.
18. Thicker Font in Calendar App Icon
Calendar app icon’s font is now thicker so it’s easier to read the date.
19. Idle Opacity in Assistive Touch
You can now change the idle opacity for the Assistive Touch button. If you’re an avid user of this feature, this will help make the button less intrusive.
20. More Options in Safari Tab Switcher Shortcut
When you press and hold the Tab Switcher in Safari you’ll now get new options for opening a new private tab and for closing the current tab.
21. Fixed Music Widget Bug
One of the really annoying things in Beta 1 as the fact that the Now Playing widget just wouldn’t go away from the Lock screen, even after you’d stop the media and quit the app. Now, in Beta 2, it does.
22. New AirPlay UI
When you tap on the AirPlay icon from any of the app, you now get the same popup UI for selecting the output as you do in Control Center.
23. Volume HUD Is Back
In Beta 1, when you were playing media and you’d change the volume, you wouldn’t find the now infamous Volume HUD. We’d all assumed that it meant that our distracting friend was no more. But in Beta 2, it’s back. Turns out, it was just a bug.
24. 3D Touch Works Better
3D Touch now actually works when it comes to the app icons on the Home screen and the Photos app.
25. General Bug Fixes
Beta 2 fixes a lot of little bugs. From pictures not being pixelated in Photos app to correctly export photos in JPEG.
Are You Running the iOS 11 Betas?
Are you running the iOS 11 beta on your device right now or are you waiting for the Public Beta release? What is your experience like with the current betas? Did you find a new feature we missed out on? Share with us in the comments below.
