Apple Ditches Videos App For TV App In iOS 10.2 Beta 3; Update Comes With New Features, Changes

Apple started rolling out the third beta version of its upcoming iOS 10.2 software update on Tuesday, and developers who downloaded and tested out the new beta learned certain changes that are about to come to iOS-running iPhones and iPads soon.

On the same day that iOS 10.2 beta 3 was released, MacRumors tested out the software update to find out whether or not it only contained bug fixes and improvements like what is stated in its initial changelog. Surprisingly, the Apple-centric news site found a lot of interesting things about the new beta.

First and foremost, the most obvious thing with the new beta is the absence of the Videos app. Apparently, Samsung’s biggest rival has removed the Videos app from the United States version of iOS. In other countries, the Videos app still remains. Not only that, even the Videos widget that came with iOS 10.1 was killed off in the new beta.

In exchange of the missing Videos app and widget, Apple is pushing for the new TV app to be the go-to hub for video content that’s shared across multiple devices. Apple has also introduced the replacement TV widget in the previous beta.

Another feature that’s been removed from the upcoming beta is the SOS functionality that was supposed to provide users a means to call emergency services by just pressing the power button for a couple of times. For some reason, the feature has become an exclusive functionality in iOS India.

Meanwhile, if there are things that have been eliminated, there are also features that have been added into the software. The new beta version now comes with “Send With Love” screen effect in the Messages app. Another new feature is the “Up Next” feature in the TV app, which is designed to keep track of content users watched and recommended similar ones across supported devices. Speaking of the TV app, it now has its own section in the Settings app where users can choose between streaming content via cellular data or Wi-Fi.

According to AppleInsider, the new beta version has the build code 14C5077b. The site says registered developers can download the software update over-the-air if they have the previous beta installed on their devices.