Golden master means iOS 14.2 — with new emoji and Shazam — is almost here

Apple on Friday gave developers access to iOS 14.2 golden master, along with the iPadOS equivalent. This is the last step before releasing these new versions to the public.

When available to all, iOS 14.2 will offer plenty of fun new emoji, as well as Shazam music recognition integrated into the Control Center.

Plenty of new emoji and more for iPhone and iPad users

For many people, the highlight of iOS 14.2 will be new emoji, including ninja, the transgender symbol and a certain Italian hand gesture.

Fresh animal emoji include a black cat, bison, mammoth, polar bear and dodo. And food wasn’t overlooked, with blueberries, olive, teapot and bubble tea. This is just a few of the dozens of of additions.

And that’s not all. This version also lets users add “Music Recognition” to the iPhone’s Control Center. Tap on the icon to have the service identity a song playing, either nearby or on the iPhone itself.

In other words, built-in Shazam. But having the stand-alone Shazam application installed on the phone or tablet isn’t necessary.

And a few other small changes have been reported in the final version.

iOS 14.2 golden master is out. A few interesting notes that stood out to me: support for the MagSafe Leather Sleeve is in, which suggests a launch sooner than later. AirPods are getting battery optimization for the first time. And headphone level alerts when sound is too high.

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) October 30, 2020

iOS 14.2 golden master and iPadOS 14.2 GM still reserved for developers

Just so there’s no confusion, the final version of iOS 14.2 and the iPadOS equivalent is only for developers at this point. Access requires being part of the Apple Developer Program, which costs $99 a year.

A public beta should follow shortly, and a full release will likely come in early November.

Stop driving developers mental

The iOS 14.2 golden master should save developers’ sanity. For the past few days, iPhones and iPads running the most recent beta have kept showing their users a pop-up message suggesting they update to the full version of iOS 14 or iPadOS 14. But, until now, there wasn’t a non-beta version available to update to, and the pop-up appeared every time the phone or tablet screen is activated.